Gintama - Time Reversal Arc
by HeroFiend
Summary: When the Yorozuya Gin-chan's leader was unceremoniously reverted to a child, Shinpachi and Kagura have to find a way to amend the entire situation. Yet, who is that elusive someone who stands in their way at every turn? COMPLETE as of 6/5/14. Thanks to the guest who pointed out the correct completion date ;)
1. Prologue

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

"Geez, I shouldn't have had that last parfait," Sakata Gintoki groaned as he dragged his feet to his _futon_. "It was just too much, even for a sugar addict like me."

A wave of nausea washed over him, leaving him breathless.

"I'm gonna puke," he realised, clutching a hand to his mouth frantically. He began to track back towards the doors he had only just closed a moment ago.

Another wave slammed him forcefully. He recoiled, sweating profusely.

_I will never eat another parfait ever again… even if they somehow invent a mixture of double chocolate and double strawberry…_

His vision was blurring. Everything was fading to black.

Gintoki keeled to the ground, motionless.

* * *

"Gin-san!" Shinpachi called, stepping onto the wooden floor. "Kagura-chan! I'm here!"

There was no reply. A glance at the clock only served to agitate him further.

"How could you guys still be asleep?" he demanded loudly, stomping through the corridor. "The time is two hours past noon!"

"Kagura-chan!" he yelled, whipping open the door to the cabinet shelf. "Wake u-"

A fist came roaring at him. Next moment, he was sent flying to the opposite wall.

"Who dares to interrupt my beauty sleep?" the fiery china girl questioned brusquely, eyes still closed. "Do you wish to die early? Is that what you want? I can do that for you, you bastard!"

Shinpachi struggled to take control of his own senses. It was a pretty hard task, considering the fact that a megaton punch had just landed on his face.

"Open your eyes before you swing your fist!" he protested, pushing his fallen glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

Kagura slowly separated her eyelids from each other. She blinked for a few minutes before settling her gaze on a dishevelled figure.

"Shinpachi," she inquired curiously. "What are you doing, crumpled up and all?"

"That's what I will like to ask you," he replied exasperatedly, getting to his feet.

"Has Gin-chan woken up?" Kagura asked, hopping off her mattress.

"I don't think so," Shinpachi answered, heading in the direction of Gintoki's room. "To be honest, he did not look that well last night, did he?"

"That last serving of parfait did him in, yup." Kagura said, following him lazily. She picked her nose and flicked a booger into the unwary Shinpachi's hair.

They stopped outside their leader's room.

"Gin-san!" Shinpachi said loudly, pushing open the double doors. "It's time to wak-"

He simply paused there, a look of disbelief and amazement evident on his face.

"What's wrong, Shinpachi?" Kagura queried, poking a head in. "Did Gin-chan take a sh-"

Her mouth went gaping open.

They stared as a child of six or seven years turned away from the window to face them. With wavy, silver permed hair and a pair of half-lidded, red dead fish eyes, he was practically the miniature version of a certain individual.

The child treaded lightly, halting when he was right in front of them. Looking up, he opened his mouth.

"I'm hungry," Sakata Gintoki said, picking his nose. "Do you have any rice balls? They taste good."


	2. Chapter 1: Ginpatsu

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

"Do you have more?" Gintoki asked, finishing off the final rice ball on his plate with a sigh of relish.

"Err, Gin-san," Shinpachi said, his eyes on stalks. "You just cleared the remaining sacks of rice in the whole house. I'm afraid that we can't make any more rice balls for you."

Gintoki licked his fingers and stared at him.

"Why do you keep calling me Gin-san?" he asked curiously. "Isn't that what you use when talking to people who are older than you? I am still a kid, you know."

"Gin-… Gin-…" Shinpachi tried to say.

"Just call him Gin-chan, Shinpachi," Kagura said, cramming her own mouth with sukonbu. "It makes no difference anyway, uh-huh."

Shinpachi, having been taught all his life to be respectful to seniors, simply nodded uncertainly.

"Gin-chan," Kagura commented. "I didn't know you ate as much as me when you were young, yup."

Gintoki met her eyes.

"I can't really help it," he said. "I have not eaten for days."

"Days?" Shinpachi repeated. "How could you have gone without food for days? What have your parents been doing?!"

"That's right," Kagura said indignantly. "Even though I could only have plain rice with _furikake _on top in the past, my mummy still made sure that I had food in my stomach, yup."

Gintoki eyed them coldly.

"I don't have any," he said shortly.

A few seconds of awkward silence ensued.

Gintoki leapt off his chair and fixed his gaze out of the window.

"Where is this place?" he asked softly.

"You don't know where this is?" Shinpachi asked tentatively. "Where were you just before you came upon this land?"

"A place with dead bodies," Gintoki answered earnestly, ignoring his horrified gasp. "I was searching through their shirts when I found a rice ball. But before I could eat it, everything turned black. Suddenly, I found myself looking at the both of you."

He pondered for a moment.

"You looked stupid," he added.

"What did you say?!" Kagura blustered, standing up. "Don't think that just because you shrank into a kid, I won't beat you up, you bastard!"

"Kagura-chan, stop!" Shinpachi yelled, pulling her arms back with all the strength he could muster. "He's not the Gin-san we know! He's just a kid!"

Kagura took a few seconds for the words to sink in. Breathing heavily, she settled back onto her chair.

"Gin-s- Gin-ch..a…n…," Shinpachi stuttered. "Ah, screw it. Gin-san! You mentioned that there were dead bodies? What happened?"

Gintoki did not reply for a few seconds.

"War," he answered shortly. There was a sad edge to the one word he was willing to offer.

"Gin-san…" Shinpachi thought morosely as he gazed at the small back of the kid in front of him. "I have always troubled you with all kinds of problems, but never did I once ask about your own…"

"Kagura-chan," he whispered to Kagura. "I don't know what exactly happened, but we got to somehow restore things to their original stat- Kagura-chan? What are you doing in that outfit?"

"Look here, kid," Kagura said.

Gintoki turned to face a girl clad in a black shirt and pants with red linings, and a white _yukata _with light blue patterns draped sloppily over her left shoulder.

"Just because you find yourself in a pinch," Kagura said. "It does not mean that you are the most pitiful person on this planet, uh-huh. There will always be people out there with worse problems, in darker situations than you, yup."

She walked to Gintoki's side and patted the top of his head.

"Instead of moping around, why not look towards the future in a positive light?" she gave a wise smile. "Only those with tainted souls will regard everything around them in a negative aspect, yup."

"Gura-san!" Shinpachi exclaimed, literally fanboying. "The miniature version of Gin-san, Gura-san, is back!"

Gintoki looked up with wide eyes.

"Your _yukata _is not put on properly," he pointed out, picking his nose.

"That's how _you _put it on yourself in the future!" Shinpachi yelled.

"Future?" Gintoki inquired curiously.

"Errr…" Shinpachi drew back.

"What if this was some sort of time travelling thing?" he thought hastily, beads of sweat forming at the side of his head. "If I even say something wrong, there could be some sort of time paradox. In the worst case scenario, Gin-san might never have even existed in this decade!"

"Errr…" Shinpachi said, desperately finding something to cover up for his slip-up. "It's a recurring trend that is popular nowadays. We like to end all our sentences with 'in the future'."

"Ah," Gintoki expressed, thinking for a while. He pointed at Shinpachi.

"You won't have a girlfriend in the future," he said, nodding his head in a knowing fashion.

"You just wanted to say that, didn't you?" Shinpachi shouted in protest. "You will have said that even if I didn't mention the trend, didn't you?"

"This guy is funny," Gintoki turned to Kagura, gesturing to Shinpachi with his right hand. "He's over-reacting to every single thing."

"That's because I am the straight man, you idiot!" Shinpachi blustered. "It's my role in the manga/anime and this story! I have no choice, do I?!"

"Do not worry, kid," Kagura placed a hand on Gintoki's shoulder. "This pair of glasses had always been like this since the day he was born, uh-huh. Even Anego could not handle him, yup."

"Oi! You weren't supposed to agree with him!"

The wooden doors to the Yorozuya office opened slowly. The trio found themselves averting their attention from one another.

"Excuse me, is this the Yorozuya Gin-chan?" a female voice rang out gently. "I would like to hire you for a job."

* * *

**Author's clarification: This version of Sakata Gintoki has not met Shouyo-sensei yet. **


	3. Chapter 2: An Unexpected Client

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

"Sorry, Mdm," Kagura proclaimed haughtily. "We are no longer Yorozuya Gin-chan. From now on, we are officially Yorozuya Gura-chan, yup." She was sitting back in Gintoki's purple chair with her boots propped high up on the table.

"Oh, I see," the young woman with neat shoulder-length chestnut hair said softly, taking a seat on the sofa gracefully. "I am sorry for pronouncing the name wrongly."

"It's nothing, really," Shinpachi said as he set a cup of tea in front of her. He walked to the sofa opposite the young woman, sat down beside a picking-his-nose Gintoki and directed his attention to her.

"What do you wish to hire us for?"

"Oh, I am here to- Ah, how rude of me!" the woman inclined her head in a bowing motion. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Shiriaru Hekoki-"

"Pffttt!" Shinpachi and Gintoki clutched their hands to their mouths, flushing red.

"Is anything wrong?" Hekoki asked worriedly.

"Nothi..ng.. is wro…ng," Shinpachi tried to speak without opening his mouth.

"Alright, Hekoki-san," Kagura asked, her face barely visible from Shinpachi and Hekoki's positions. "What do you have for us?"

"Sor.. , He..k..o..k..i..-san," Shinpachi mustered. "Plea…se… excu…s..ee me.. fo..r… a… mo…ment."

He literally dashed towards the door. Gintoki, clutching his mouth, followed him as well.

"Geez, men," Kagura shook her head. "They just cannot hold their bladders for even one second, can they?"

Hekoki gave a hearty chuckle.

"If I may say, my father, Shiriaru Hentaime, also had the habit of going to the toile- Is something wrong?"

"Not..h…i..n..g," Kagura covered her mouth with her hand, face flushing red as well. "Exc…c..u..se.. me… fo..r… a.. m..inu…t..e…"

With that, she leapt from her chair and charged for the doors. Whipping them open with a flourish, she burst out of the apartment and let out a huge stream of laughter.

"Hahahahaha," she cried with laughter, clutching her stomach. "Shiriaru Hekoki and Shiriaru Hentaime… Hahahaha!"

"Shiriaru Hentaime?!" Shinpachi blustered, cracking up so hard that he had trouble breathing. Apparently, he had dashed out of the apartment to release his pent-up laughter as well.

But the one who was laughing the most was a certain kid rolling on the floor. The two of them could not help but smile warmly at the sight.

"I wonder how long he had gone for without laughing…" Shinpachi said softly.

"Well," Kagura said with gusto. "I will make sure that Gin-chan laughs so much that his stomach bursts, yup."

"Errr, Kagura-chan? That will be kind of gross, so please avoid doing that."

"Um, I can hear you guys, you know?" Hekoki said, standing awkwardly at the doorstep.

"Ah…" Shinpachi and Kagura mumbled.

* * *

"My family has always had a weird sense of naming," Hekoki sighed, taking a sip of her tea. They were back in the Yorozuya office after a few minutes of awkward silence. "As a result, I have always been teased non-stop by classmates."

"I am so sorry!" Shinpachi shouted, bowing vigorously. "I did not mean to laugh at you! I am so sorry!"

Gintoki stared at the humbling figure of Shinpachi and glanced at Kagura.

"This guy lacks a backbone, doesn't he?" he asked.

"You are right, kid, uh-huh," Kagura nodded. "Do not grow up to be such a pathetic guy, got it?"

"Oi! You guys laughed harder than me! Why am I the only one apologising anyway? You guys should apologise as well!" Shinpachi yelled.

"It's fine, it's fine," Hekoki said quickly.

"I apologise on the behalf of those idiots," Shinpachi said. "Incidentally, what did you wish to hire us for, Hekoki-san? You have not told us yet."

"Oh, you are right!" Hekoki exclaimed, reaching into her handbag. "Hang on, let me search for a min- Ah, found it. Here."

She placed a small photo on the table. The trio leaned in for a closer look.

"Who is this?" Shinpachi asked, looking at the photo of a 50ish looking man with fading hair. A goatee complemented his sharp jaw, creating the impression of a powerful and influential person.

"This is my father," Hekoki said sombrely. "He-"

"I saw this guy just now." Gintoki mentioned, pointing to the photo.

"What?" Hekoki yelped in surprise. "Where-"

"Please hang on for one minute, Hekoki-san," Shinpachi gave a forceful smile and dragged a curious Gintoki along with him. He hurried through a door, closed it and after verifying that Hekoki could not hear them from her current position, looked at Gintoki.

"Gin-san," Shinpachi asked urgently. "When you mentioned 'just now', did you mean the place filled with dead bodies or this place?"

"The one filled with dead bodies," Gintoki replied.

"What?" Shinpachi did a double take. "By showing us that photo of her dead father, did she want us to find him or something? That is crazy! How the _hell _do we find a _dead_ person?"

The door opened. Kagura stepped in and closed it after her.

"Calm down, Shinpachi," Kagura said. "Hekoki-san did not seem to be a mentally challenged person, despite her name, uh-huh. I am sure that she just wants us to resurrect her father, yup."

"I think you are the mentally challenged one here, Kagura-chan," Shinpachi raised an eyebrow.

"Actually," Gintoki said, looking aloof. "The person in the photo had more hair earlier on. And he wasn't dead. In fact, he gave me a riceball, asking me to go away."

"He was _faking _his own death?!" Shinpachi shouted, slapping his forehead with a hand. "With such a powerful-looking face, he _faked _his death and bribed you with a _rice ball_? The world is doomed. It's _definitely _doomed."

* * *

"Hekoki-san, sorry about just now," Shinpachi said. "Gin-san here had an urgent business to clear at the toilet-"

"Did you really see my father just now?" Hekoki asked Gintoki, voice getting louder. "Where did you see him?"

"Hekoki-san, please calm down," Shinpachi urged. "Gin-san did not see your father just now. It was just a gang triad boss on TV. He mistook him for your father, that's all."

Hekoki paused and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," she shook her head. "I was just too worried about my father. To be honest, he had gone on one of his business trips a month ago. But until now, he still had not returned yet. My family is getting really worried…"

"I take it that you wish for us to find your father?" Kagura asked authoritatively. "Why did you not approach the police instead? We might be Yorozuya Gura-chan, but there are still things that even _I _cannot do, yup."

"About that…" Hekoki hesitated. "My father's businesses aren't exactly… legal. I can't go to the police."

"Your father is operating an illegal business?" Shinpachi exclaimed in shock.

"It's not drugs or anything!" Hekoki waved her hands in protest. "It's just dealings with the Jouishishi and he simply supplies them medicinal supplies, that's all. He does not help them with their firepower or missions, I swear."

"Even if you say that…" Shinpachi visibly hesitated.

"Please, I am willing to pay any amount of money," Hekoki looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Seeing as my father deals in such a risky trade, something must have happened if he just disappeared without a word. My family is really worried about his well-being. Please, you have got to help us…"

"But…" Shinpachi mumbled guiltily, looking at the trembling figure opposite him.

"Do not worry, Hekoki-san," Kagura said. They looked on as she left her chair and walked to their side, _yukata _dragging on the floor.

"If I am able to do something that could prevent the tears of a beautiful woman," Kagura said, smiling charmingly at Hekoki. "I will definitely not pass up the chance to do so, yup. Do not worry; you can count on us to find your father. I have never gone back on the words I said, and I do not intend to in the future as well, uh-huh."

Hekoki stared at Kagura, a weak smile starting to form at her lips.

"Thank you…"

* * *

"Kagura-chan, you do know that we will be helping an illegal trader?" Shinpachi asked carefully. Hekoki had left the apartment, leaving the trio of Yorozuya Gin-chan discussing around the table. "Even if you had uttered those deep sentences that Gin-san himself will have said, the fact remains that we are helping a criminal."

"Naïve, Shinpachi," Kagura shook a finger. "Do you not see the benefits of helping her?"

"Benefits?" Shinpachi repeated. "You're not telling me that the benefits are whole bags of sukonbu, are you? That's-"

He noticed Gintoki beside him, picking his nose.

"Benefits… You mean you wanted to help her because the old man in the picture could be the solution to Gin-san's transformation?!" Shinpachi asked, barely suppressing the anticipation that had risen in him.

"Correct, Patsuan," Kagura said, nodding her head knowingly. "By finding the old man, we could obtain a clue to fixing the entire situation."

"Gura-san!" Shinpachi gushed admiringly at the proud girl in front of him.

"Besides," Kagura said softly, turning to Gintoki. "He will definitely have wanted to help a maiden in distress as well, yup."

"I'm sure of it," Shinpachi said, smiling warmly at a bemused Gintoki, who was totally not keeping up with their conversation.

"Are you two _lolicons?" _Gintoki asked with curious, dead fish eyes. "You have been smiling at me for no reason for a while now. It's creepy, you know."

* * *

**Author's Note: Shiriaru Hekoki translates to Serial Farter in English, while Shiriaru Hentaime translates to Serial Pervo. To be honest, I'm not really sure whether I used the right words there but I did refer to an online dictionary though. Cheers!**


	4. Chapter 3: Search for a Serial Pervo

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

"Where are we going?" Gintoki questioned as the Yorozuya walked through the bustling streets of Kabukicho. "Will there be lots of food there?"

Shinpachi sighed.

"No, Gin-san," he explained. "We are going to find a missing person who might be able to shed some light on your situation."

"Patsuan," Kagura asked, picking her nose.

"Yes, Gura-san?"

"Where are we going?" she inquired.

"Were you listening? Didn't I say that we were going to look for Shiriaru Hentaime?!" Shinpachi blustered. "Geez, and there I thought that you could fill in for Gin-san for a while- Oh, Ane-ue!"

"Oh, it's Shin-chan and Kagura-chan!" Otae said, looking at them.

"Anego? What are you doing here?" Kagura queried.

"I heard about a great Bargain Dash sale where everything is fifty percent off, so I'm heading there right now," Otae replied crisply. "Why are you two by yourselves? Where's Gin-san?"

Shinpachi did not know how to answer her query. Just before they had left the office, he had told Kagura not to divulge Gintoki's current situation to anybody. She had only agreed to it when he had said that Gin-san might disappear.

"Well, that's true," Shinpachi thought logically. "A time paradox is so unstable that any slight alterations could affect the future or the past. It's best to keep the matter a secret from as many people as possible. We won't know when some idiotic stalker or gorilla will come shaking the whole paradox, after all."

"That natural perm is rotting away in the _pachinko_," Kagura sulked. "He left the job to us and just ran off, uh-huh."

"Great acting, Gura-san!" Shinpachi whooped mentally.

"Really, what a completely useless man," Otae commented. "I should withdraw Shinpachi from hi- Who's this?"

"Crap! I forgot to hide Gin-san behind my back!" Shinpachi thought, sweat beginning to stream from his forehead.

"Oh," Kagura said, picking her nose in a devil-may-care fashion. "That's just the stupid kid we have been entrusted with. Some pathetic man asked us to take care of him while he goes after his wife who had run off, yup."

"Pathetic men everywhere, really," Otae said as she bent down to face the clueless Gintoki.

"What's your name?" Otae smiled. "You know, looking up close, you resemble a certain useless samurai _a lot_."

"Ane-ue is going to recognize him soon!" Shinpachi thought furiously, every single alarm in his mind set off instantly. "I have got to do something!"

"Ane-ue," Shinpachi tried to intervene. "He's-"

"Who's this flat-chested woman?" Gintoki asked Shinpachi.

"My ******* god! He went and did it, didn't he?!" Shinpachi's mind went haywire. "Even if he's just a kid, Ane-ue isn't going to give a shit about that! Run, Gin-san!"

Otae's face was turning dark. There was a sinister aura revolving around her. In fact, the shadow of an apple-eating death god was at her side, cackling wickedly.

"Write his name in the _Death Note," _an imaginary Ryuk taunted viciously. "He will never be able to address pretty young ladies by that term _ever _again."

"Run!" Shinpachi yelled, flinging Gintoki onto his own back.

"Wait for me, Patsuan!" Kagura yelled, dashing after him.

Otae stared at their retreating backs, vein throbbing in her cheek.

"If it's not for the bargain dash…" she spat on the floor. "Never mind, I could always write that natural perm's name instead. They look exactly the same, after all."

She paused.

"Look exactly the same?" she repeated.

* * *

"Have we lost her?" Shinpachi panted. "By the way, Gin-san, how _heavy_ are you? My back feels so sore for some reason."

While he puffed uncontrollably, Gintoki looked over his shoulder.

"Ah, it's that old man," Gintoki pointed.

"What?" Shinpachi and Kagura exclaimed, following the lead of his finger.

A man who looked extraordinarily like the person in Hekoki's photo was walking inside a shop.

"Let's go, Patsuan!" Kagura said, nodding at Shinpachi.

"Got it, Gura-san!"

They were sprinting at a fast pace when they noticed the name of the shop. It prompted them to stop abruptly in their tracks.

"Gura-san," Shinpachi said, gritting his teeth. "This is an _okama _shop, isn't it? Saigou-san's _okama _shop, isn't it?"

"Yup, Shinpachi-kun," Kagura said.

Shinpachi felt a hot surge of anger rising inside him.

"That old man went missing just because he wanted to visit an _okama _shop?!" he yelled. "He made his entire family worry just because of some sexless monsters-"

"Sexless monsters?" a voice rumbled.

A huge man in a kimono came walking out of the entrance of the shop. He towered over a cowering Shinpachi.

"I'm sorry!" Shinpachi shouted. "I meant to say beautiful women! I swear I wanted to say that! I'm so sorry!"

"Oh, it's the two of you," Saigou said. "Where's Paako?"

"Playing with women in those dirty places," Kagura sulked. "He left us with a job and just ran off."

"Hmph," Saigou snorted. "We have plenty of them here. Why didn't he just come here instead?"

"Because you guys are scary, that's why!" Shinpachi thought. "No man in his _right _mind will come here…"

"Saigou-san," he said.

The huge cross-dresser looked at him.

"Could we go into your shop for a while?" Shinpachi asked.

Saigou raised an eyebrow.

"A bit young, aren't you?" he commented. "Come back in a few years, horny boy."

"It's not like that!" Shinpachi protested heatedly. "We are actually looking for a person!"

Saigou looked sceptical.

"Please!" Shinpachi requested desperately.

Saigou observed for him for a while.

"Alright, alright," he said, waving them forward. "Go on in, then. Don't come crying to me when your butt gets burned, though."

"I definitely _do not_ want to know what that was supposed to mean," Shinpachi mutters as the trio enters the _okama _shop.

"Welcome!" a cross-dressing man with a prominent chin greeted them. "Would yo- Oh? Aren't you two Paako's kids? What are you doing here?"

"Agou-san," Shinpachi said. "We are here to look for a person."

"A person?" Kenou Agou queried.

"Yes, Agomi," Kagura answered. "We are here to look for a Shiriaru Hentaime."

Agou looked confused.

"I am afraid that you will have to be more specific about that," Agou said as he gestured to the drunken customers behind him. "There are many serial pervos here, after all."

"No, Agou-san," Shinpachi tried to explain. "We don't mean the _literal _meaning. We are looking for a _person_ called Shiriaru Hentaime."

"Oh, why didn't you just say that from the start?" Agou smiled, proceeding towards a table at the far side of the shop. "Hentaime-san is well-known around the girls. He has been a regular customer of our shop for the last three years."

"Three years…" Shinpachi cringed at the thought, following him. Gintoki and Kagura tagged along, conversing between themselves and shooting the occasional glance at passing _okamas_.

"Hentaime-san!" Agou called. "These two are looking for you!"

"Hmm?" a deep and composed voice sounded. "Who dares to look for the biggest boss in the whole of Kabukicho?"

"You are really good at joking, Hentaime-san," Agou chuckled. "Everyone here knows that you don't even dare to go near stray dogs!"

The _okama _who were surrounded around Hentaime laughed heartily as well.

"That… that is not true!" Hentaime protested, his face red as a beetroot. "I went near one before! I even petted it for a bit!"

"Hentaime-san," the _okama _chortled. "That wasn't a real dog. It was made out of cotton wool!"

"Enough!" Hentaime-san demanded, desperately trying to salvage some grace for himself. "Who is looking for me?"

"Hentaime-san," Shinpachi stepped forward. "I am Shimura Shinpachi of the Yorozuya Gin-chan. We are here at your daughter's request."

"My daughter?" Hentaime looked confused for a moment. "Uhhh… Ah, Hekoki! Crap, I totally forgot to tell her that I will not be returning for a few weeks because of work!"

"How is this work, Hentaime-san?" Shinpachi asked. "Anyway, we have another reason for wanting to find you. Have you ever seen this child before?"

Shinpachi took Gintoki's hand and led him to Hentaime.

"Hmm? This child?" the old man squinted at Gintoki. "I don't know why, but he looks distinctly familiar… Ah!"

"What's wrong, Hentaime-san?" Shinpachi inquired urgently after his face had turned pale.

"This child…" the old man said slowly, looking at Gintoki with wide eyes. "I can't believe it. It's just not possible!"

Shinpachi and Kagura stared at him, their hearts beating unnaturally fast.

"Twenty years ago," Hentaime said, sweating profusely. "I had seen this very kid in front of me when I was on the verge of death. I entrusted my last will to him-"

"Please say the truth, Hentaime-san," Shinpachi said, vein throbbing at his temple. "We are not in a mood for tall tales right now."

"Yeah, bastard," Kagura raised her parasol threateningly.

Hentaime flinched at their sudden display of aggression.

"Fine, fine," he said weakly. "Twenty years ago, in the raging midst of the Jouishishi war, I had faked my death on the battlefield. I was actually a coward at heart, and I did not wish to die so soon."

Nobody batted an eyelid at this revelation. Hentaime looked slightly hurt, but proceeded on with his story.

"When I was lying on the ground, trying to be as still as possible, I felt a hand perusing my shirt," he said. "I thought I was dead for sure."

"Was it this child?" Shinpachi inquired, gesturing to Gintoki.

"Yes," Hentaime agreed. "It wasn't an Amanto. When I looked up, I saw a child with naturally permed hair and a pair of dead fish eyes staring at me."

He stood up and paced around the table.

"In my relief, I had given him a rice ball I had been keeping for emergencies. I asked him to go away, and he did," he continued.

"It didn't end there, did it?" Shinpachi asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Hentaime nodded and looked at Gintoki with a faraway expression on his face.

"Despite my request, he simply took two steps away from me and sat on a dead body," he said. "Just when he was about to eat the rice ball, something happened."

The air seemed to turn still.

"All of a sudden, his body crumpled onto the ground. Next second, he had vanished," he said mysteriously.

Everyone waited with bated breath.

"After he had vanished, a figure had materialized in that very spot. Somebody with the exact same wavy hair and dead fish eyes…" he said slowly.

"It can't be…" Shinpachi stammered, an inkling of an idea transpiring in his mind.

"Yes," Hentaime looked at Shinpachi with a serious gaze. "The figure that had materialized was this child. But it was an older and taller version who had cropped up."

"Gin-san…" Shinpachi mumbled softly, looking lost. "Don't tell me… you switched places with your past?"

He inadvertently glanced at Gintoki, who was looking utterly clueless about the whole situation.


	5. Chapter 4: Time Travel Repercussions

**Author's note: This chapter contains slight spoilers for the Gintama: Kanketsu-hen - Yorozuya yo Eien Nare movie. I managed to keep them to a bare minimum, though, so it should be safe to proceed. Cheers!**

* * *

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

"Shinpachi!" Kagura gasped as she struggled to keep up with him. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Gengai-san!" Shinpachi shouted as he gritted his teeth. "He will definitely know how to fix the whole situation!"

"He must know how, surely," Shinpachi thought confidently as he sprinted with all his might, Gintoki bouncing behind his back. "He helped us with time-travelling before, after all."

"Dammit! Why didn't I bring the scooter?" Kagura lamented loudly. "It will have saved us so much time, uh-huh."

"I will prefer running instead," Shinpachi said, face turning pale. "The last time you took the scooter, we nearly died a horrible death, remember?"

The street ahead was literally flowing with people. Enraged, Shinpachi shouted.

"Get out of the way!"

All of them scattered, save for a few tough-looking samurai.

"Eh?" one sneered. "What will you do if I don't? Go home and cry to your mum?"

"No, _you_ will be the one crying to your mum," Shinpachi said as he drew out his sword and cleared three of them with a single blow.

"You brat," the remaining one snarled, showing off crooked teeth. "Not as weak as you look, huh? Good eno-"

"You are in my way, bastard!" Kagura shouted as she drew back her parasol and sent him flying with brute force.

"Who… are… them…" the one with the crooked teeth mumbled weakly, before blacking out.

Gintoki stared at the both of them curiously. He was going to open his mouth, but ultimately decided not to. He might just be the next one to be sent flying.

* * *

"Gengai-san!" Shinpachi yelled as he charged into the _Karakuri Dou. _"Gengai-san, I need your help! Gengai-sa-"

"I can hear you well enough, kiddo," Gengai said as he stumbled out of a door. "What's wrong? Did that samurai get his scooter ruffed up again?"

"Gengai-san," Shinpachi crouched and let Gintoki land on the ground. "Do you recognize this child?"

The old inventor approached the aloof looking child.

"That hair and those eyes…" he breathed. "How could this be?"

"Your suspicions are correct," Shinpachi panted for breath. "This is Gin-san… a child version, to be exact."

"Do you know what happened?" Gengai demanded.

Shinpachi explained the entire situation to him, with Kagura chipping in at times to exert some unnecessary wisdom.

"Time travelling?" Gengai mumbled as he pondered. "I wonder…"

He began combing a collection of brown and dusty boxes.

"Do you know how to fix this situation, Gengai-san?" Shinpachi inquired tentatively. "You do know how, don't you? After all, you helped Gin-san in the time-travelling incident before!"

Gengai did not emit a tangible reply. All he was willing to commit was a simple "Hmmm". He had decided to let his own hands do the talking instead.

The time passed relatively slowly. Kagura and Gintoki fell asleep on a work table, snoring incessantly. Shinpachi drew out his portable music player and sang along to Otsuu's latest single with aplomb.

When Gengai finally declared that he was done with his searching, the trio hardly reacted to him.

"Oi!" he hollered. "My workshop is not a form of entertainment for kids!"

"Sorry, Gengai-san," Shinpachi said as he stashed his music player hurriedly in his _keikogi_. "I got too carried away there."

Kagura stirred at Shinpachi's urging.

"What time is it?" she questioned blearily. "Is it time for dinner?"

"We will have dinner later, Kagura-chan," Shinpachi sighed. "We have got to restore Gin-san to his original time period first."

Kagura nodded slowly, rubbed her eyes and shook the sleeping Gintoki awake.

"Gengai-san," Shinpachi turned back to the old inventor. "Have you found something that could help Gin-san?"

Gengai gave a wide grin and held a head-sized video camera aloft like a prize.

"That camera!" Kagura exclaimed in recognition. "It was filming all sorts of dirty stuff that time, yup!"

"Really?" Gengai asked, seeming to develop an instant interest in the memory stick of the camera.

"Gengai-san!" Shinpachi blustered. "You will have lots of time for that later! Move on to the main point!"

"My bad," Gengai scratched his head in embarrassment. Clearing his throat, his expression became serious.

"I have a theory right here in my head," he said gruffly. "Basically, when Gintoki had travelled through time in the previous incident, he had mistakenly violated the rigid fabrics of time."

"Rigid fabrics of time?" Shinpachi repeated, uncomprehending.

"Time is a pretty tight entity," Gengai explained. "It operates in ways that are close and narrow, so to speak. Thus, when Gintoki had breached its hold not once, but _thrice_, time had cast repercussions upon him."

The both of them were in truth, totally at sea. However, they continued to nod their heads in mock assent.

"I believe that these repercussions actually jumbled up Gintoki's time periods. They will take some time to clog up, though, which was why it did not happen straight after that incident," Gengai said.

"Err…" Shinpachi struggled to compose an intelligent reply. "Which means…?"

"Gintoki, as a result of those time repercussions, was forced to switch places with an earlier version of himself," Gengai said firmly.

"Why must he trade positions with an _earlier _version?" Shinpachi inquired; subconsciously relieved at a sentence he could actually follow. "Why not an _older _version?"

Gengai looked as if he had been waiting for this particular question.

"When Gintoki went through time," he started. "He had travelled into the future, back to the past and to the present. This means that he had travelled into the future _twice _and into the past _once._ As I said before, the laws of time are abnormally stringent. If Gintoki was to travel through the fabrics of time again, he will have to go back into the past."

"Is the switching of places a permanent fixture or a temporary one?" Shinpachi queried urgently.

"Usually, it will have been a permanent one," Gengai said matter-of-factly. "However, because I still have the time travelling device in my possession, I could still make it a temporary one."

He walked to the silver-haired child's side and bent down, encasing his head with the video camera.

"The video camera has been set on reverse," Gengai said as he stepped back. "It will off-set the repercussions and return Gintoki to his original time period. Once utilized, it will automatically self-destruct so that the past will never discover this piece of technology."

Kagura picked her nose, looking delighted.

"I had no idea what you were saying until now, old man," she blurted. "But if Gin-chan could come back, that will be great, uh-huh."

Gengai raised an eyebrow, before turning to a panicking Shinpachi.

"Did you nod just for the sake of nodding as well?" he asked tentatively.

After taking in Shinpachi's reluctant nod, he sighed dejectedly.

"Never mind," he mused slowly. "Let's just get on with it and get your useless samurai back."

Flipping open the cover of the video camera, he pressed the rewind button and drew back quickly.

A beam of light shot out from the digital screen. It engulfed Gintoki completely, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

Almost instantly, another flash of light materialized in the space in front of them. Waiting with bated breaths, they tensed for the return of an adult Gintoki.

The light slowly dissipated, yet it did not draw out a flurry of whoops and cheers.

"How could this be…" Gengai took off his eye-goggles slowly, displaying a pair of disbelieving eyes.

"Gengai-san…" Shinpachi breathed.

A bemused child was picking his nose, all the while staring at them with dead fish eyes.

"Did something happen?" Gintoki questioned as he flicked a booger onto the floor.

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Shinpachi voiced aloud, worry tracing every syllable of the question. "If even Gengai-san could not help Gin-san return from the past, who will be able to?"

"Do not worry so much, Shinpachi," Kagura quipped. "Gin-chan will be back soon, yup."

"Kagura-chan, being optimistic is rational in this case but it isn't going to help Gin-san in any single way," Shinpachi said firmly.

"If a small Gin-chan is here," Kagura pointed out lazily. "There is no reason why an adult Gin-chan cannot come back, can he?"

"It doesn't work that way, Kagura-chan," Shinpachi sighed, the very picture of a defeated individual.

"There is no use worrying about it, is there?" Kagura spoke wisely. "I believe in Gin-chan, that is all, yup."

Shinpachi took a deep breath, trying valiantly to clear all negative thoughts from his mind.

"I guess you're right, Kagura-chan," Shinpachi gave a forceful smile. "There's no point worrying about it. Gin-san will somehow make it back to us for sure."

"That is the attitude I want to see, Patsuan," Kagura said, nodding her head. All of a sudden, she clapped her hands together.

"Let's have dinner, Shinpachi!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, all pretence of maturity gone in an instant.

Despite himself, Shinpachi realised that his heart was feeling slightly lighter as well.

"Geez, guess I have to start cooking, then," he expressed with a small grin.

"Yay!" Kagura and Gintoki cheered simultaneously, a wide grin plastered over their lips.

* * *

Author's note: _Karakuri Dou _means Machine Hall in English. On another note, the story will be heating up from here. Hope you will enjoy the later chapters! Cheers!


	6. Chapter 5: A Sleepless Night

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

Gintoki stared at the ceiling listlessly as moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a perfect silhouette of his resting figure on the wall.

The silver haired child just could not get himself to fall asleep. Every single time he had tried to close his eyes that night, the interior of his eyelids will always light up with recollections of the last few days.

_Peaceful and fulfilling days without the need to worry about food and shelter…_

"Shinpachi and Kagura…" he whispered softly into the midnight breeze.

_Who were them? Why was I here?_

When Gintoki had first arrived in this foreign land, he had found himself lying face-first on the wooden floor.

"Why am I here?" he had inquired, sitting upright and gazing around the room he was in.

Subconsciously, he had tried to grip thin air with his hands.

"Where is my rice ball?" he mused, staring at his own bare palms. "I was holding it a second ago…"

Panicking, he had jumped up and combed the whole room, trying his best to ignore the rumbling from his own stomach.

"It's got to be here somewhere…" Gintoki mumbled, upsetting a whole stack of boxers in his frantic search.

Every nook and cranny of the room was looked through at least twice. When the child was forced to realize that the precious rice ball was not in the room, he had gazed around aimlessly.

"A window?" he breathed, a touch of anticipation reigniting in his heart. "That's the only place I have not searched!"

Eager to quieten the roaring beast in his own stomach, he had proceeded to the base of the window sill.

"What is this?" Gintoki queried quietly, his sight fixated out of the window.

He found himself staring at a thriving land filled with buildings and nature, one that he could not possibly have seen just a few moments ago. Dead bodies don't exactly thrive, do they? All thoughts of recovering his rice ball had vanished with the wind.

There had been the sound of wooden doors being opened. Turning around, he saw two dumbfounded faces gaping at him.

His stomach rumbled. He made a silent decision.

Walking steadily to the stupid-looking duo, he had looked up and opened his mouth.

"I'm hungry. Do you have any rice balls? They taste good," he had said...

Gintoki stretched out a hand and tried to grab the midnight breeze. It whistled through his small fingers.

The last few days had been totally different from the life he was living. There was no need to scavenge for food, free shelter and most importantly, two strangers whom he had quickly warmed up to.

It was almost like he was leading a normal childhood, complete with food, shelter and _a family._

The first day had been a crazy one. Right after he had gorged himself with as many rice balls as he could, fearful of the next time he could have food in his stomach; a woman with an extremely funny name had appeared. It was the first time he had laughed in a few years and he had literally burst with the hilarity of it all.

After a series of incomprehensible conversations, he had been dragged onto the streets. He had wanted to ask Shinpachi for a piggy-back ride, but he seriously doubted the physical prowess of the glasses-wearing samurai. Kagura looked like she was strong enough to, but he shied away from the thought. That fiery outburst was still etched in his mind.

Along the way, they had encountered a flat-chested woman with a ponytail. His companions had turned submissive instantly, addressing the woman with polite and almost fearful tones.

The smiling woman had approached him and asked him a question. He did not manage to register it in his mind, though. After all, he was too busy recognizing that familiar smile she was giving him.

_Fake and sympathetic smiles all around… Even in this land, they do not change, do they?_

Cold anger rising within him, he had wanted to provoke her in return. He had wanted to wipe that filthy smile off her face.

"Who's this flat chested woman?" he had asked, turning to Shinpachi.

The woman's face turned dark straightaway, to Gintoki's immense satisfaction.

"Run!" Shinpachi had yelled hoarsely, flinging him onto his own back.

Gintoki had found himself in a piggy-back ride all of a sudden.

"Looks like I really cannot tell a person by his looks alone," Gintoki had thought momentarily, bouncing on his back.

They had run for a good long while. Just when he was thinking that they were never going to stop, he saw the face of the man who had given him a rice ball.

"Ah, it's that old man," he had pointed out.

Shinpachi and Kagura reacted at his words and sped up even more. Gintoki grabbed Shinpachi's shirt tightly to keep himself from falling off. When they suddenly stopped in their tracks, he was nearly flung forward head-first into the wall.

A huge man had come walking out of a door. For some reason, he was clad in women's clothing. Gintoki had wanted to make a comment about it, but decided not to when he noticed the big guy's muscles.

"Why are these men wearing dresses?" Gintoki had asked Kagura discreetly with the corner of his mouth. They had entered a shop and were following a cross-dressing man with a prominent chin. With Shinpachi leading the way, he was dawdling at the back with the china-looking girl.

"Gintoki," Kagura had whispered back. "There are reasons why they wear dresses when they are men. We should never judge a person by how he _looks_, but rather by how he _acts,_ yup."

"If that is the case, why are you shooting these disgusted glances at them right now?" he asked curiously.

Kagura gave him a smart rap on the head, muttering that a kid should speak only when he was supposed to.

They were led to the old man whom Gintoki had met before. When they began to engage in a serious conversation, Gintoki closed his eyes and envisaged a room filled with rice balls. It was fragrant and downright pleasing to the very end.

Just when he was about to tuck into his twelfth imaginary rice ball, he had sensed a change in the flow of the conversation. Opening his eyes, he saw Shinpachi directing a worried glance… at him.

"I wonder if they are really _lolicons,_" Gintoki wondered vaguely, before being whisked off his feet. Flung onto Shinpachi's back again, they were dashing through the streets for some incomprehensible reason.

"Get out of the way!" Shinpachi had yelled when they were reaching a street filled with people.

Four tough-looking samurai had ignored his words and were holding out their swords menacingly.

"Eh?" one had sneered to the laughter of the others. "What will you do if I don't? Go home and cry to your mum?"

Gintoki had a sudden nervous breakdown right there and then. He sweated profusely as he focussed on those razor sharp edges that could so easily kill a person.

_Dead bodies everywhere… Chaos and pandemonium erupting in the whole of Edo…_

"_Gintoki! Run!"_

Gintoki found himself shaking his head slowly, heart beating faster and faster.

"No…" he had whispered to himself softly. "Don't… don't kill anymore…"

"No, _you_ will be the one crying to your mum," Shinpachi had said dangerously, snapping Gintoki out of his crazed daze. With a flourish of his sword, he sent three men flying away, much to the amazement of the silver haired child.

"You are in my way, bastard!" Kagura had shouted, sending the last one into the air.

They had continued sprinting down the road as if nothing had happened.

"Who… who are these two?" Gintoki breathed. "Why are they so strong?"

He had wanted to ask them right there and then, but the look of intense concentration on their faces deterred him.

"I should ask later," Gintoki thought. "I might just be the next one to be sent flying."

It took a while before they finally stopped. Bursting into the door of an old-looking shop, Shinpachi had questioned an old man with eye-goggles with surprising vigour.

"That hair and those eyes…" Gengai had said, observing Gintoki with rigid precision.

"Is this land full of _lolicons_?" Gintoki thought to himself, staring at the old man aloofly. "Why does everyone like to stare at me so much?"

Before long, the old man started to peruse some boxes. Sleepy and bored, Gintoki walked blearily to a table and placed his head on it.

"Gin-chan," somebody called weakly. "Gin-chan, wake up."

Struggling to open his eyes, Gintoki looked up to see Kagura rubbing her eyes. She gestured to the old man, who looked ready to burst a vessel.

The old man began to embark on these ludicrous explanations. Even Shinpachi and Kagura looked confused at his big words.

Sighing loudly, the old man walked to Gintoki and crammed a huge video camera over his head. All of a sudden, everything was dark and stuffy.

There was a sound of a cover being flipped. A few seconds after that, he felt a huge vibration where he stood. The darkness dissipated in a single instant, revealing shocked faces everywhere around him.

"How could this be…" the old man muttered, taking off his eye-goggles at last. "How could this be?"

When they went back to the place Gintoki had found himself in a few hours ago, the atmosphere was heavy.

"What are we going to do?" Shinpachi voiced aloud. Gintoki could hear the worry in those words.

Kagura had attempted to cheer him up from Gintoki's point of view. After a few sentences, Shinpachi did not look so grim anymore.

"Geez, guess I have to start cooking, then," he had said with a faint smile.

Gintoki might not have comprehended the deep conversations that have been transpiring for the entire day, but he certainly understood this one. At least his stomach did, anyway.

"Yay!" he had cheered involuntarily, a large grin plastered over his lips…

Gintoki shook his head. If he did not manage to get some sleep that night, it will be a living hell the next day. Kagura will wake up to see a walking zombie in the house the next morning.

Closing his eyes, he tried to clear his mind.

"_Gin-chan, look, your favourite Shounen Jump manga!"_

"_Gin-san, could you not pick your nose at the dinner tabl- Kagura-chan! You too!"_

"_Gin-chan, want a sukonbu? It's gonna cost you though, yup."_

"_Gin-san, please wash your hands after you use the toilet! "_

"_Gin-chan, could you get me a new umbrella? I want one with floral prints…"_

Gintoki's eyes snapped open. The ceiling was staring vacantly at him again.

A week had passed since that hectic day. He had been having three meals a day, sleeping easily every night and experiencing the tough love of two immature sibling-like figures. Yet, why did his heart still feel empty? What could he possibly still wish for?

_Shinpachi and Kagura…_

_They have already treated me well, haven't they? They gave me all these pictures to read and a screen to watch moving images. Isn't that enough?_

_They don't really see you as your own individual self, and you know it._

Gintoki knew it. Deep down, he knew that those two were just treating him well for the sake of some unknown figure. He knew that they did not see him as Sakata Gintoki at all.

_Do you want to live in the shadow of some mysterious figure for the rest of your life? Don't you want to have Shinpachi and Kagura for your own?_

Gintoki sat upright and stared at the moon out of the window.

_I want it. I want to have them for my own._

_Very well, good boy… Come to me, then. Come to me and I will grant you your wish. Never again will you have to live a homeless life with no parents. I promise._

_Really? Do you really promise to help me?_

_I will never go back on my words. I am the perfect protagonist, after all._

* * *

"Gin-san! Kagura-chan!" Shinpachi announced as he walked into the Yorozuya Gin-chan's apartment. "I'm here!"

There was no reply.

"Again?" he sighs as he walks through the corridor. "Look at the tim-"

"Shinpachi…" a familiar voice sounded from Gintoki's room.

"You're awake, Kagura-chan?" Shinpachi inquired as he tracked back to his leader's room. "I thought you will still be asle- what's wrong?"

Kagura was perched at the edge of the doorway. She looked frozen for some reason.

Shinpachi walked to her side and took a look in Gintoki's room.

"Gin-sa-" he started to say, before pausing abruptly.

They were staring at an empty room.


	7. Chapter 6: Ominous Return

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

"Where did Gin-san go?" Shinpachi demanded out of thin air as he rushed out of the apartment. "I told him to stay indoors!"

Kagura was tight-lipped as she followed him, the traces of worry evident on her usually calm and indifferent face.

"Shinpachi…" she mumbled softly.

"What is it, Kagura-chan?" he asked breathlessly.

Kagura hesitated.

"Gin-chan had been acting strangely last night," she finally said.

"Acting strangely?" Shinpachi paused, turning around.

"He was-"

"Why are there looks of distress on your faces?" an emotionless voice sounded. "What is the matter?"

They whirled around to see a woman with green hair tied back into a knot.

"Tama-san," Shinpachi started urgently. "Have you seen-"

He caught himself at the last moment. After convincing every familiar figure that Gin-san had left for a business trip and would not be back for at least two months, a sudden inquiry about his leader's present location will be a difficult topic to breach.

"Seen?" Tama repeated questioningly.

"We do not have time for this, Patsuan," Kagura shook off the tremors of worry and slipped into Gura-san mode. "In order to find Gin-chan, we have to ask everyone, uh-huh."

"Kagura-chan… "

"Gintoki-sama?" Tama latched onto a word. "Are you looking for Gintoki-sama?"

Shinpachi wanted to deny the question, but relented at the intense look on Kagura's face.

"Yes, Tama-san," he said. "Have you seen Gin-san?"

"If I did not remember wrongly, Gintoki-sama is away on a monster-hunting quest," she replied, deadpanned. "You were the ones who supplied me that piece of information."

"He's on a business trip, not playing Dragon Quest!" the straight man in Shinpachi burst out despite the situation.

"If he is on a dragon hunt, why are you looking for him?" Tama inquired.

"Gin-san…" Shinpachi hesitated. If he told Tama the entire story, will there be a rig in the time physics? After all, Gin-san was not in danger. He was probably just combing the entire town for rice balls in hunger. Yes, that must be it. There was no need to risk Gin-san's existence over such a small matter, was there? He should just invent a logical excuse and continue his search for the silver haired child…

"Actually-"

"Gin-chan had somehow turned back into a child," Kagura said, cutting Shinpachi off. "He had disappeared when we checked on his room earlier on, yup."

"Kagura-chan!" Shinpachi yelled, horrified.

"Turned back into a child?" Tama gazed at them. "My system does not recognise the validity of your words."

"It's nothing," Shinpachi gave a forceful grin, trying to dissipate the entire conversation. "We are in a hurry, so please excuse u-"

A boot filled his entire vision. Next second, he was sprawled on the floor, clutching his face in pain.

"Oi, Kagura-chan!" he protested vehemently. "What did you do that fo-"

Shinpachi bit back the last syllable he was about to utter. Kagura was staring at the ground with a look of distinct pain reflected on her face.

"I should have known something was wrong, uh-huh," she expressed tightly. "Gin-chan was staring at the wall in a daze when I checked on him last night. He was muttering to himself, Shinpachi. I should have _known _something was wrong!"

"Kagura-chan…" Shinpachi got to his feet and approached tentatively. "It's not your fault. Gin-san just acts so aloof at times that we have gotten used to it, that's all-"

"It's my fault!" she shouted, clenching her fists. "Whenever I needed Gin-chan, he will always be there with a smile and a helping hand. Yet, when _he _needed _me, _I wasn't there! How is it not my fault, Shinpachi?"

She looked so miserable and guilty that Shinpachi did not know what to say. Despite her indifferent attitude towards many things in life, Kagura-chan will risk it all to protect the ones she loved. Gin-san's disappearance right under her own nose was like a bullet to her personal code.

Tama observed the exchange of words calmly.

"I might never understand the authenticity of human emotions," she said flawlessly. "But I am still able to adjust to situations appropriately."

"Tama-san?" Shinpachi inquired as she closed her eyes.

"Tama Maps is currently in operation," the female robot droned in a Terminator-like voice. "While we trace the location of the dragon hunter, Sakata Gintoki, kindly leave a message after the beep. Once the process has been completed, we will call you back. Thank you."

_Beep_

"We are not trying to call a person!" Shinpachi yelled heatedly. "We are _finding _a person! Besides, isn't Tama Maps just a variation of ****** Maps? We will get sued for copyright, I'm warning you! We will be taken off air, you hear me?"

"I will be back," Tama echoed impressively.

"Don't go around abusing famous movie quotes! We will get sued, I'm serious! Not even _FanFiction _will be able to save us by then!"

"Tama Maps has successfully located the position of the dragon hunter, Sakata Gintoki," Tama announced.

"What?" Kagura blustered. "Where is that idiotic kid?"

The female robot opened her eyes and gazed at them.

* * *

_Cut through the narrow alleyway on your impending right._

_Impending?_

_It means- Never mind, just go right at the front._

Gintoki approached a cross-section and took a turn to his right.

_You should see a shop with the title 'Karakuri Dou' displayed on the exterior._

_Karakuri Dou?_

For some reason, there was a familiar vibe to the name.

_Yes, Karakuri Dou. Once you see it, head towards the shop. I will be waiting for you there._

Gintoki sighted the broken-down shop in the distance. He gradually wandered towards it.

_I saw this shop before… There was an old man who tried to kidnap me with this black object thing…_

_Do not worry; the old man has been incapacitated. It's only me in the shop right now, I promise._

The silver haired child reached the doorways of the _Karakuri Dou. _He took a tentative step onto the wooden floor.

"So you have finally come, my dear Sakata Gintoki," a composed voice sounded. "I have been waiting for this moment for quite a while now, to be honest."

Gintoki turned in the direction of the proclamation.

A man was walking out of the shadows slowly. His hair was _straight_ and _golden._

"Who are you?" Gintoki questioned curiously, a tinge of envy lining the edges of his words. He has always had a fervent desire for straight hair.

"Who am I?" the man gave a hearty laugh. Even his _laugh _was perfect.

"How about taking a guess at my identity?" he winked.

Gintoki took a closer look at the stranger's profile. He was wearing a white shirt and pants with blue linings, and a black _yukata _with golden patterns worn sloppily, draped casually over his left shoulder.

"You…" Gintoki started to say, pondering heavily. "You seem to dress the exact _opposite _of Kagura…"

The mysterious man simply smiled, his left arm tucked in his black _yukata _in a relaxed fashion.

"Are you part of Kagura's cosplay team?" the silver haired child took a wild guess.

The man did not cease his maddening smile.

"Incorrect, though it was an interesting notion."

Gintoki was starting to get irritated by now.

_That fake smile all over again… Why do I have to see it everywhere I go?_

"I don't know," Gintoki finally conceded, gritting his teeth. "Who _are _you?"

The mysterious man finally ended his ludicrous smile, only to replace it with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Very well, let me introduce myself," he expressed slowly. "I am the enhanced and _flawless _version of _you."_

"What are you talking about?" Gintoki asked, drawing back instinctively. All of a sudden, he was feeling the faintest of wariness creeping up his arms.

_This guy is not a friend. Who is he? Why did he call me here?_

"My name is Sakata _Kintoki,_" the man with the golden hair said crisply, giving a mock bow.

"Sakata Kintoki?" Gintoki repeated uncertainly. He wanted to laugh at the sheer stupidity of the name, but just could not bring himself to. Somehow, this man had virtually the same name as him with only the minor difference of one letter.

"Yeah, sounds crude, doesn't it?" he spread his arms resignedly. "But it does represent me, I suppose. I have golden hair_, _after all."

"Who _are_ you?" Gintoki demanded softly.

"Didn't I just answer your question?" Kintoki smiled as he approached. Gintoki nearly fell over a loose wooden board on the floor in his haste to get away from the stranger.

"Go away!" Gintoki yelled as he tracked back blindly, his face directed to the stranger. "If you hurt me, Kagura and Shinpachi will-"

He felt himself crashing to the floor, his back bearing the full brunt of the fall. A sparse wooden board was propped up vertically right in front of him.

"Looks like even the _floor _has a grudge against you," Kintoki commented as he loomed over Gintoki.

"What… what do you want?" Gintoki asked fearfully.

"What do _I_ want?" Kintoki repeated. He regarded the question for a second before bursting into laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" Gintoki inquired as he glanced around his surroundings, frantically looking for a possible object to use as a weapon.

"Oh, it's nothing, don't mind me," Kintoki recovered and unsheathed his wooden sword. "It's just that the question seemed so… _idiotic _that I could not help but laugh."

He gazed at Gintoki, the smile on his face replaced by a concentrated snarl.

"You might have won last time," he said. "But _I _win this time. The final victory is what matters, isn't it?"

Kintoki drew back his sword, ready to strike at any time.

"I want the _protagonist_ role, Sakata _Gintoki," _he taunted menacingly. "For that to happen, I will need to dispose of you. No hard feelings, okay? A main protagonist earns much more than a guest character, after all."

With that, he brought his sword down in a forceful arc, the impending death of Sakata Gintoki reflected in Kintoki's triumphant eyes.

* * *

**A/N: Gintama Serious Mode: On**


	8. Chapter 7: The young Shiroyasha

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

"It's my win, then!" Sakata Kintoki proclaimed triumphantly as he swung his wooden sword.

The sound of wood clashing against wood erupted.

"What?" Kintoki stared in disbelief as his sword struck the silver haired child in the shoulder. "I aimed for your head!"

Gintoki was pushed back by the impact. Getting to his feet, he gave an edgy grin and fiddled with a piece of wooden board in his hands.

"That wooden board…" Kintoki said slowly, directing his gaze to the wooden floor. The vertical wooden board was conspicuously missing from it. "When did you…"

"You were absorbed in your own words," Gintoki said earnestly. "I simply made a grab for it and waited for you to make your move."

"That's impossible…" Kintoki looked at him incredulously. "You shouldn't have learnt how to _deflect_ a blow yet!"

"Shinpachi and Kagura did not just feed me pictures and moving screens for the past week," Gintoki said, adjusting his stance. "They taught me some swordsman skills and combat moves as well. They are the only things I could understand, to be honest."

The golden haired automaton considered the entire situation with an emotionless expression.

"Looks like I disregarded the characteristics of those two," he admitted. "I will never have thought that they will actually teach you fighting skills, seeing as you are just a child. But since they have been practicing themselves at your age, they will not care for that sense of logic."

Kintoki gave a sigh.

"I miscalculated," he conceded. "I should have killed the both of them when I had the chance. Never mind, I can still dispose of them after thi-"

A piece of wooden block came barraging on him. Stunned, Kintoki barely managed to parry the incoming strikes, struggling to retain his own balance.

"Do not hurt Shinpachi and Kagura…" the silver haired child whispered threateningly with a demented look in his eyes. "Or I will kill you."

Kintoki's automated system simply refused to recognize the prowess of the child before him.

"How could you swing that _bare _piece of wood with such vigor?" he questioned disbelievingly. "You had only just started learning about combat skills a _week _ago!"

Gintoki did not reply, instead focusing on a flurry of underhanded strikes and low kicks in a bid to get to the automaton's vital part. His eyes burned with anger.

* * *

"It's close," Shinpachi said. "Let's speed up, Kagura-chan."

Kagura gave a murmur of assent. It was clear that she still felt responsible for Gintoki's disappearance.

"Kagura-chan," Shinpachi stopped in his tracks. "Didn't I tell you that it wasn't your fault?"

"But, Shinpachi…" Kagura paused. "Gin-chan-"

"Besides, he won't get into any trouble even if he comes into contact with hostile forces," Shinpachi said confidently. "I was worried when we decided to teach him combat skills, but I'm rather glad that we did so now."

"Shinpachi," she asked curiously. "I still don't know why you decided to teach him combat skills, nope. Aren't you worried about the effects of the time paradox?"

"I was worried at first," Shinpachi conceded. "If Gin-san returned to the past with enhanced combat abilities, the present might take a different turn."

"Then, why did you-"

"It's okay," Shinpachi gazed at the cloudless sky. "We only taught him the basics and I told him that he could only use them in self-defence. When he eventually meets his master, he could simply progress at a faster speed. It will not affect the future by much."

"In that case, why did you decide to teach him combat skills?"

"Think about it, Kagura-chan," Shinpachi looked at her seriously. "It's no longer a natural case of time travelling. Gengai-san's theory was totally negated by the failure of the reverse solution. And just look at it from a different point of view. Who will stand to benefit from such a situation?"

Kagura looked on with wide eyes.

"You mean…" she approached tentatively. "Do you mean that somebody _wanted _Gin-chan to revert to his past self?"

"Yes, that's what I think," he pushed his glasses up. "Somebody intentionally set up this whole fiasco. I don't know how he/she did it, but if that was the case, Gin-san will be at his most vulnerable at this point of time."

"Which means…?" Kagura inquired.

"Whoever manipulated this entire set up will wish to defeat Gin-san when he's at his weakest," Shinpachi explained. "And the only time Gin-san was actually weak was when-"

"When he had not learnt any combat skills!" Kagura chimed in.

"That's correct," Shinpachi pushed up his glasses. "In order to avoid such a scenario, Gin-san has to at least acquire the basics of combat. But to think that he could reach such a level after just _one _week… it's just unbelievable."

"That's why Gin-san is the strongest in Edo, yup," Kagura nodded knowingly.

Shinpachi gave a discerning glance at the watch on his wrist.

"Crap, we wasted too much time here, Kagura-chan!" he gave a shout and began to sprint. "Let's go!"

"Wait, Shinpachi!" Kagura called, dashing to keep up with him. "I just want to say that I'm sorry for kicking you in the face earlier on, yup!"

"It's fine, Kagura-chan!" Shinpachi said in between breaths.

"I will kick you in the _balls _next time instead, Shinpachi!"

"Oi! If you do that, it will be much worse than kicking me in the face! I will never be able to celebrate Father's Day in the future, you hear me? I will never get to celebrate it in my entire life! And a girl shouldn't say that word!"

"It's okay, Shinpachi. You will never get a girlfriend in the future anyway, yup. Your _balls _are basically useless, uh-huh."

"Why are you echoing Gin-san's words? Which aspect of me tells you that I am not going to get a girlfriend in the future?"

"Your glasses, uh-huh."

"Oi!"

* * *

"Enough!" Kintoki shouted, unleashing a huge burst of strength and sending the silver haired child flying with a sweep.

"Even if you have such advanced skills," he said angrily. "You will never win me, a fully-fledged version of _you_!"

"I never expected to win you," Gintoki said weakly, a trace of blood at the corner of his lips. He pushed the wooden block vertically against the floor as a form of support to get himself onto his feet. "I did not expect to win at all."

"Why are you trying so hard, then?" Kintoki demanded, "My system does not recognize the futility in your actions!"

"Just because I don't expect to win," Gintoki said raggedly. "It doesn't mean that I will die without a fight, does it? This is my own life and I will fight to protect it. If I don't fight, who will? Besides…"

He charged at Kintoki.

"I can't possibly let you hurt Shinpachi and Kagura, can I?" he snarled.

"He's beginning to revert back to his old self…" Kintoki realized in disbelief. "In spite of the strong preparations I have done on him, he's still struggling to fight against it…"

He made a split-second decision.

"I can't allow that to happen, my dear Sakata _Gintoki," _Kintoki declared loudly as he charged as well. "I will have to kill you right now!"

Both wooden swords aimed for each other's vital area.

Kintoki was a fraction faster, though, and it showed in his triumphant smile.

Gintoki knew it as well. He closed his eyes.

_Sorry, Shinpachi and Kagura. Goodbye._


	9. Chapter 8: Doppelgangers

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

Sorry,_ Shinpachi and Kagura. Goodbye._

Gintoki closed as his eyes as he waited for the fatal blow.

Kintoki's eyes glinted with triumph as he landed his strike…

The sword struck Gintoki and sent him flying back, where he lay motionless on the wooden floor.

"Finally…" Kintoki said. He sheathed his sword and walked towards the still figure. "I have finally destroyed you, Sakata Gintoki! All those months of waiting have finally paid off in dividends…"

The golden haired automaton reached the still figure and crouched.

"It was a given that you will lose to me right from the start," Kintoki whispered. "I am the _perfect_ version of you, after al-"

The sharp edge of a wooden board pierced right through his heart.

"What the…" the automaton exclaimed softly as he stared at the object permeating from his chest, subconsciously stumbling backwards."How could this be…? I struck your heart! There's no way you cou-"

Kintoki's expression became impassive.

"Of course, I totally forgot… I miscalculated once again…" he said in a sardonic tone.

Gintoki got up, huffing uncontrollably.

"I don't know what you are talking about…" he began. "But you did not hit my vital area. You struck my legs instead."

He looked at the automaton, an earnest look on his face.

"I knew I couldn't win you on equal terms," he said. "I had to wait for an opportunity instead. If you had not missed that strike, I will have been dead without a doubt. Luckily for me, it was the chance I had been waiting for."

Throwing the piece of wooden block onto the ground, Gintoki turned around and started to walk towards the entrance of the shop.

"I will make sure not to tell anyone that you were a serial child kidnapper, so die in peac-"

A blow struck the back of his heart with such force that he was sent reeling to the floor, face-first. Coughing in shock, a pool of blood gradually gathered right before his eyes.

"Looks like I got the perfect opportunity in the end," the voice of Kintoki sounded behind him. "Did I forget to tell you that I am an automaton? Sorry, I guess I was too busy announcing my _primary _intentions."

"Automaton?" Gintoki inquired weakly, trying to get to his feet.

"A robot," the golden haired automaton explained haughtily, planting a white boot forcefully on Gintoki's back. "I don't die when a wooden sword hits me in the heart, even if it did blow a hole right out of my chest. My operating chip does not exist in the heart like humans, after all."

Kintoki drew back his wooden sword, ready to deliver the final blow.

"Any last words?" he asked softly. "I could allow you to be the protagonist for just a while more, you know? It won't hurt me, since I have been waiting for so long."

When Gintoki did not speak, he shrugged indifferently.

"Your loss, then," Kintoki commented as he swung his sword.

_Bam_

A force sent the automaton flying with such force that he went careering into the wall, creating a large hole where he had landed.

"How dare you lay a finger on Gin-chan…" Kagura said, every single syllable laced with anger. "We spared you that time out of kindness and you repay us with this…? I can't forgive you for this, you bastard!"

With that, she went right for the stunned automaton.

"Gin-san!" Shinpachi yelled as he took the injured Gintoki in his arms. "Gin-san! Stay awake! I'm taking you to the hospital now!"

The silver haired child blinked a few times.

"Shinpachi…" he mumbled weakly. "You came, huh? Took you quite a while, idiotic glasses man…"

"Gin-san!" Shinpachi nearly cracked with relief. "It's fine. Once I take you to a hospital, everything will be fine. You hear me?"

Gintoki heard the words, but could not afford to speak. His eyes were beginning to close.

"Gin-san! Stay awake! Do not fall asleep!" Shinpachi yelled in his ear desperately. "Once you fall asleep, you will never be able to wake up again! Gin-san!"

"I'm trying to…" Gintoki murmured, his arm losing its strength. "But I'm just so sleepy…"

"Gin-sa-"

_Whoosh_

Shinpachi was suddenly gone from his side. Gintoki fell to the floor, dazed.

"Shinpachi? Kagura?" he mumbled, struggling to sit upright. "Where are you?"

Gazing around, his eyes widened.

Two Shinpachis were fighting each other with steel _katanas_ while two Kaguras were fighting bare-fisted.

"Get out of my way, you imposter!" one of the Kaguras yelled as she dived for a three hit combo.

"No, _you _get out of my way, you imposter!" the other one shouted back, parrying the blows with her arms.

"Oi! Why are there two Kaguras?" one of the Shinpachis demanded, charging with his steel _katana. _"Why am I fighting myself? What the hell happened? Is this supposed to be Pokemon: The MewTwo movie? Are all the clones supposed to fight each other? Is that supposed to be the case?"

"Looking at myself play the straight man is so weird…" the other one muttered, dodging out of the _katana_'s reach. "It's like I am talking to a mirror or something…"

Gintoki stared at them in disbelief.

"What is this…" he mumbled, unable to tear his gaze away from the rampaging battles.

The sound of footsteps approached, audible even in the midst of the battle cries.

"Those are just the robots I have been preparing all along," Kintoki said. "Or to be more specific, the robots that _Gengai _had been preparing all along. Just as he could create a perfect version of _you, _he managed to create perfect versions of the both of them as well."

He held the sharp edge of his sword to Gintoki's throat.

"Gin-san!" Shinpachi yelled, distracted by Kintoki's motion. Without hesitation, the robot Shinpachi drove right for his mid-section. Shinpachi barely managed to parry the blow.

"You bastard!" Kagura shouted as she began dashing towards Gintoki. "Don't lay a finger on Gin-chan!"

"You aren't getting past here, nope," the robot Kagura announced, leaping into the air and landing right in front of a furious Kagura.

Kintoki gave a tinkly laugh.

"Funny how human emotions work so badly in their favour," he commented dryly. "They let emotions creep into their minds and heart, decrease their abilities spontaneously and ultimately get taken out. Yet, they invented robots, who work just the opposite way of humans. Sometimes, I don't understand how the minds of humans operate, to be honest."

Gintoki could hardly move an edge. Any wrong move could mean instant decapitation. He somehow knew that the golden haired automaton will be able to slice a person's head off even with a _wooden _sword.

"You know what?" Kintoki said. "As a gift for performing so well against me, I will tell you how I conceived this entire plan. I will tell you why you suddenly appeared in this foreign land as well."

Gintoki, despite himself, perked his ears up. He was still unable to stop looking at the ongoing battles, though. He felt that if he just averted his gaze for a single second, someone dear to him will _die._

"I don't even know if you will understand what I'm speaking," Kintoki gave a small laugh. "But you will be dead in a few minutes, so it hardly matters."

Gintoki wanted to get up. He wanted to help Shinpachi and Kagura, get back home safely and forget this whole nightmare. Instead, he was forced to watch them fight with a sword at his throat. He clenched his fists subconsciously as he realized that he was virtually helpless.

"Let me see…" Kintoki said slowly. "Where should I start? Hmmm…"

"Why am I here?" the silver haired child inquired. If he was going to die, he wanted to die _knowing_, and not die like a total moron.

"Why are you here?" the automaton repeated. "Hmmm… how do I phrase this? To be honest, you have never left this place in the _last_ few years.

"What do you mean?"

"You are not the child you think you are," Kintoki disclosed mysteriously.

"What do you mean? I am obviously a child! I was in this land filled with dead bodies-"

"That's your _memory _from the past," Kintoki said calmly. "I simply rewired your mind to reflect the memories that you had just before you met Shouyo-sensei."

"Shouyo-sensei? Rewired? Memories?"

"I am not capable of time travelling gimmicks, you know. Even the old man needed _five _years to build a time travelling device. Sadly, I am capable of waiting a few months, but five years are too long a stretch _even for _me."

"Time travel?" Gintoki wondered. Shinpachi had mentioned something about the future. Was this robot actually into recurring trends as well?

"Then, I discovered the perfect solution," Kintoki's tone changed. It was a haughty and proud one, as if he was sharing his life's work with the world. "Why do I need to incorporate time travel when I could simply make one _believe _that he had time travelled?"

Gintoki did not reply. He could not keep up with the automaton's words, but somehow had a vague inkling of what they were.

"I don't know if you even realise it _now,_" Kintoki said. "But you are actually still in your adult form. You have never gone to the past, nor had a child version of you ever arrived in the future."

"What are you talking about?" Gintoki demanded.

"Have you not wondered why I struck your legs instead of your heart earlier on?" Kintoki questioned.

"Wasn't that just your aim? You missed, didn't you?"

"Robots _cannot _miss, Sakata Gintoki," Kintoki said patronizingly. "Their systems do not register the meaning of _miss. _If one did miss, it was without a doubt a dysfunctional one. I am a perfectly functioning one at the moment, though."

He paused for a moment.

"I saw you as the child you were supposed to be. When I aimed for your heart, my sword struck your legs. This is because your actual heart is somewhere higher, maybe even in an area where your hair does not reach."

"I don't get it…" Gintoki shook his head, trying to absorb snippets of information at a time. "Are you trying to say that I am actually in adult form when I look like a child?"

"Finally, the genius gets it," Kintoki exclaimed sarcastically. "I only needed to hypnotize you with my radio waves, which will cause you to have memories from before you met Shouyo-sensei, and to see yourself as a child."

"That makes no sense. What about Kagura and Shinpachi? They see me as a child as well!"

"I once hypnotized the entire town of Kabukicho," the automaton said quietly. "It's no big deal for me to do it again."


	10. Chapter 9: A Red Crescendo

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

"When you tried to destroy me the previous time," Kintoki said. "You had relented because those brats pleaded for my life. Could you imagine the humiliation for me? An _automaton _receiving help from mere _humans…_?"

He sounded furious. After a while, he composed himself.

"But I suppose I should be thankful for that piece of humiliation," he sighed. "After all, who is the one getting humiliated now?"

Kintoki edged the sword, making a slight cut at Gintoki's temple.

"When all of you left me behind, acting like you had just spared the life of some _mongrel_, I had my chance. I knew I could not defeat you right away, since the old man is going to experiment on me in his shop and I was in no fit condition to kill you. However, just when I was resigned to my fate, my system proposed an _ingenious _idea to me."

Gintoki stared at the heated fights, his teeth gritting in pain. Both Shinpachi and Kagura seemed to be getting overpowered by their robot counterparts. They were both on the defensive, parrying lethal blows that were aimed at their vital sections.

"Did you know what that ingenious idea was?" Kintoki mused aloud, unaware that the silver haired child was not paying attention to him. He was simply narrating the details for his own pleasure. "It was the notion of sending time-activated radio waves into _your_ mind."

"My mind?" Gintoki repeated despite himself. "What did you do to my mind?"

"These radio waves were designed to hypnotize your mind and eyes," Kintoki went on, oblivious to Gintoki's query. "Your mind will believe that you were only a child while your eyes will complement that belief.

It did not work as well as I envisaged, though. I could only escape from Gengai's clutches when he had 'reprogrammed' me. He didn't know that I had stored backup virus soft wares that will corrupt the new reprogrammed files in my mind, thereafter bringing my original personality back. When the old fool released me out of my shackles, I instantly hypnotized him."

He paused for a moment, a look of distaste on his face.

"I took too long to get my plans in motion," he admitted. "By then, the pre-set radio waves were going to activate soon and you will be a child again.

After the previous foiled attempt, I will cast a town-wide radio wave that not only hypnotizes_ humans, _but also _robots _and _animals._ I could not afford to have a female robot and a large dog assisting you again, after all. Unfortunately, that also meant that I will be hypnotized, but it was a small consequence to pay. As a result, everyone in Kabukicho will see you as the child you believe you are.

Yet, I was still not ready to take you on. Despite their ages, those two brats were strong. I could not possibly take all three of you on simultaneously.

I needed fighters; fighters that could rival the prowess of those two brats. My system initiated another idea. Since Gengai had managed to build a robot version of _you, _he will surely be able to construct perfect versions of them as well."

Gintoki found himself listening, even though he could only understand some sentences.

"However, Gengai needed some time to build the robots from scratch," Kintoki continued. "It was a risky venture, since there was always the distinct possibility that you will somehow find a way to cancel the manipulative waves. I needed _time._

Thus, I crafted a time-wasting plan. It was designed to _seemingly help _you, when in actuality, it's main purpose was to distract your attention from the real matter at hand.

I discreetly cast another hypnotizing wave in your room when the radio waves activated. You will believe that you saw a man right before you came here.

Before that, I had hypnotized a young woman and her father to do as I say. They will appear at the right moments and slowly lead you to Gengai, who will dash your rising hopes with a failed demonstration."

Gintoki was starting to fall asleep. Kintoki was practically in lecture mode.

"It worked better than I expected," the automaton said, a tinge of delight evident in his voice. "The Yorozuya did not search for clues for one entire _week. _By then, my robots were finished.

I cast a hypnotic wave with you as my intended target. I began a mental connection with you, forcibly making you relive all your worst memories and manipulating you into believing that those brats did not care for you. Before long, you willingly arrived at the _Karakuri dou._

I was careless. If I had finished you straightaway, those two will never have turned up. Even though I built those robots, they were only meant as a last resort. All these accumulated miscalculations have led me to believe that I should get myself checked up soon.

In the end, it doesn't matter, does it? I still win, and I will be the main protagonist of the story from the next chapter."

Kintoki gave a vicious laugh.

"I have spoken too much. I will have to finish you right now," he said, readying his sword for the third time that day. "Farewell, Sakata Gintoki."

The sword was descending. The silver haired child closed his eyes, aware that it will be his last time doing so.

"Gin-chan!" Kagura yelled as she took the brunt of the sword on her bare palms.

Gintoki opened his eyes, staring in disbelief.

"The Gin-chan I know and respect will never give up, yup," she said, smiling forcefully as Kintoki applied even more pressure on his sword. "So get up, kid!"

"Kagura…" Gintoki mumbled. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the robot Kagura leaping at her, the sharp tip of the parasol directed at her square back.

"Kagura!" Gintoki yelled, fear transcending all other emotions in his heart.

All he saw was the china girl's wistful smile as blood spurted into the air in a crescendo.


	11. Chapter 10: A Lost Promise

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

Kagura fell to the floor. She did not move a single muscle.

"Kagura…" Gintoki mumbled softly as he saw the pool of blood gathering around her. His eyes widened in fear.

_It's all happening again. Red showers of liquid, helpless screams and the sharp edges of swords. Everyone is dying all over again…_

Shinpachi, still involved in his fight, fended off a blow and inadvertently caught the still figure of Kagura out of the corner of his eye.

"Kagura-chan..." he opened his mouth disbelievingly.

The next moment, a sword penetrated his stomach. Shinpachi keeled to the ground, blood foaming from his mouth.

"Shinpachi!" Gintoki shouted in despair. Tears flowed down his cheeks uncontrollably. His heart felt like it was being wrenched with a screwdriver; it was sharp and excruciatingly painful.

"Gin-san…" Shinpachi said weakly. "Run…"

Kintoki gave a hearty laugh as he observed the carnage that was happening right before his eyes.

"What a fitting end for the previous Yorozuya!" he exclaimed. "All the members are going to die together!"

The robot Shinpachi had his sword poised right above Shinpachi's head. The robot Kagura had her parasol positioned above Kagura's heart. They were both looking at Kintoki for further instructions, both waiting to deliver the final strike.

"Guess this is the end, then," Kintoki proclaimed, a mad glint in his eyes. "Say goodbye to Gintama and say hello to Kintama…"

The automaton's ravings gradually faded into the surroundings as Gintoki submerged in his own thoughts.

_Shinpachi and Kagura. Both of them are going to die… They are going to die because of me…_

"_Run, Gintoki!" Gintoki's father cried as he pushed the fearful child away from him. "Run!"_

"_No, Dad!" Gintoki cried. "I can't leave you!"_

"_Leave! Before the Amantos spot you!"_

_Crying uncontrollably, the silver haired child had forced himself to leave. _

_He had been walking for a distance when a cry had erupted behind him._

_ARGHHHHHH_

_He jerked back, aware that he had just heard the dying scream of his own father._

"_Dad!" he yelled in anguish, collapsing to his knees. He did not want to live anymore… Why should he live when his own parents have died? What right does he have to live?_

"_Always look towards the future, child," Gintoki's father seemed to be saying. "Do not look towards the past, look towards the future!"_

"_What future, Dad?" Gintoki inquired. "Without you and Mum, what future do I have?"_

"_You have me, Gin-san," a voice echoed._

"_And me, Gin-chan, uh-huh," another one echoed._

"_Gintoki! It's not Zura, it's Katsura!"_

"_What a stupid man…"_

"_Boss, please eat that chili parfait for my sister."_

"_Yorozuya, I have a last request for you. Consider it my dying will."_

"_Gin-san…"_

"_Ginnoji…"_

"_Gin…"_

"_Our comrades, everyone, please take care of them for me, okay? Let's make it a promise…"_

Gintoki's eyes snapped open, his eyebrows descending.

"Farewell, Sakata Gintoki!" Kintoki shouted as he swung his sword for the fourth time. The robots began to make their moves as well.

_Bam_

Kintoki recoiled, his head falling to the floor. The robots paused in their motions, automatically prioritizing the danger that had decapitated their leader.

"How could it be…" the automaton's head breathed, staring with disbelief. The rest of his body had fallen with a crash. "How did you manage to get free of my hypnotism? It's not possible!"

"Not possible? There's nothing that is impossible in this world, you sadistic bastard!" a fully-fledged Sakata Gintoki yelled as he charged at the incoming robots with his wooden sword. "Do not underestimate humans, you infertile scrap of metal!"

He dodged the robot Kagura's parasol thrust, stepped under her guard and sent her flying to the side with a disarming strike. Raising his sword straightaway, he parried the robot Shinpachi's overhead strike and forcibly swept him against the wall. With a quick step, he dodged the robot's pre-emptive strike and smashed his face in.

Gintoki whirled around to see a boot heading his way from the air. He managed to deflect the worst of the blow with his sword, but still went crashing into the wall behind him.

"Girls really don't know how to conserve their strength, do they?" Gintoki commented as he coughed blood from the impact.

"Gin-chan, here's another one, yup!" the robot Kagura grinned as she lunged at him, fists drawn back.

Gintoki struggled to parry every punch she pulled, ultimately receiving one right in the abdomen. Cringing in pain, he swept his sword in a horizontal arc, causing her to leap clear of it.

"Watch where you are slicing, natural perm!" the robot called angrily when she landed. "You could have hurt me there, you bastard!"

"Don't talk like her, you lousy piece of metal," Gintoki said, clutching his mid-section as he advanced slowly. "It makes me sick to the stomach."

"I told you not to eat so many parfaits, yup," she chided as she charged.

"This…" Gintoki gritted his teeth as he dashed with his sword. "Has nothing to do with parfaits, you idiot!"

He rolled under her extended fist and aimed for her legs with a low kick. When the robot fell to the floor, Gintoki wasted no time in driving his sword into her head.

"Impossible…" Kintoki said, having observed the fight with wide eyes. "They were both as strong as the real ones… How were you able to defeat them in such a short space of time?"

Gintoki let his wooden sword clatter to the floor. Without hesitation, he carried the limp figures of Shinpachi and Kagura on each shoulder.

"Same reason I could defeat you," Gintoki commented, walking to the entrance of the _Karakuri dou. _"Robots will never be able to fight with the same intensity as humans."

"Why?" Kintoki found himself shouting. "Why is that so? I don't understand!"

Gintoki stopped in his tracks.

"When humans fight for the sake of _fighting_," he said. "They are no different from robots. However, when humans fight for the sake of _protecting_, their abilities far transcend mere robots. Yes, the emotions you scraps of metals despise so much are the driving force that propels _us_ forward."

The silver haired samurai continued walking.

"Wait!" Kintoki cried in disbelief. "Aren't you going to destroy me this time? I might go after you again!"

Again, Gintoki stopped in his tracks.

"Don't you get it yet?" he asked. "You will _never _be able to be the protagonist as long as you don't learn to cherish those around you. You could try some twisted gimmick again, and we will stop you _again. _Besides…"

The silver haired samurai looked at the automaton over his shoulder.

"I think you are starting to get a hold of human emotions as well," he gave a small grin. "I don't think robots actually make_ miscalculations_, do they?"

* * *

**A/N: If any of you guys are wondering about the identity of the person who made a promise with Gintoki, it was Shouyo-sensei. Right before he was about to be executed for some twisted reason of the Amanto, he left this dying will to the still-young Gintoki. Cheers!**


	12. Chapter 11: Split Second

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

It was a surreal sight. The usually composed and reliable Gin-san lying under the foot of a golden-haired automaton, distinctly helpless. The normally fiery and indomitable Kagura-chan sprawled on the wooden floor, motionless and bleeding profusely.

The bespectacled samurai-in-training screamed, but no words flowed out of his mouth. He extended a hand desperately, but they were out of his reach. He tried to run, but they just seemed to drift further away from him.

"Gin-san!" Shinpachi tried to shout. "Kagura-chan!"

It was hopeless. The Yorozuya's fate was sealed right before his eyes... He could do _nothing _but yell silently...

"Gin-san! Kagura-chan!"

His eyes blinked open. An azure wall stared at him resolutely, impassively.

Shinpachi sat upright and shook his head. He seemed to be in a hospital room, what with the curtains and reflective windows.

"Why am I here..." the bespectacled teenager wondered weakly. "What happe-"

Images began to flash right before his eyes, causing them to widen in shock and fear.

"Gin-san!" he yelled instinctively. "Kagura-chan!"

A sudden burst of pain erupted from his mid-section area.

"Argh!" he exclaimed, clutching a hand to his stomach. Biting his lip, he tried his best to ignore the flaring pain, making to get off the bed he was resting on.

"Wait for me, Gin-san, Kagura-cha-" he panted uncontrollably, vision getting blurry. Sheer agony was engulfing his entire being, yet he refused to stand down. Mustering all the strength he had, he began to walk towards the door. His whole body felt like it was on fire.

"Wait for me..." Shinpachi mumbled softly, before his legs gave way.

There was the sound of a door being opened.

"Shin-chan, are you- Shin-chan!"

He felt a pair of gentle hands lift him up. After a few seconds, he was lying back on the soft surface of a bed again.

Shinpachi's eyes flickered. A woman with brown hair tied back in a ponytail was gazing at him worriedly.

"Ane-ue?" he mumbled, trying to move his hapless body.

"Don't move, Shin-chan," Shimura Tae chided. "If you dare to move, I will shove my delicious fried eggs down your throat."

"Ane-ue..." Shinpachi muttered weakly. "Where's Gin-san and Kagura-chan? I have to see them..."

Otae pursed her lips.

"Kagura-chan is fine," she said.

Shinpachi waited for the latter part of her sentence, but it never came. For some reason, there was a tight expression on his sister's face.

"Ane-ue...?" he voiced uncertainly.

"Kagura-chan healed extremely fast," Otae gave a forceful smile. "Really, it's as if she wasn't a human!"

"Ane-ue...?"

A chilly feeling was creeping into his heart.

"If it was not for the training you have been doing for the last sixteen years," Otae rambled on. "Your abdominals will never have contained that blow in your stomach... Really, what were you all up to? A frantic search for a ca-"

"Ane-ue!" Shinpachi gasped. "Where's Gin-san?"

There was no mistake about it this time. She was definitely trying to avoid his question.

"Wasn't he supposed to be on a business trip?" his sister laughed unconvincingly. "He should be back nex-"

"Ane-ue! Where's Gin-san? He should have been with us! Don't dodge my question anymore!"

Otae tensed. Her fists were clenched at her sides.

All of a sudden, Shinpachi did not want to hear her reply anymore. He wanted to block out those words that were streaming from her mouth. He wanted to deny everything that he was hearing at that very moment.

"He's in the operating room. They are trying to save him right now."

* * *

The golden haired automaton gazed dazedly as Gengai prepared to reprogram his system memory.

"Old man," he said. "Before you reprogram me, could you tell me something?"

"What is it?" Gengai asked, a sceptical tone in his voice as he made the final preparations. "Are you going to hypnotize me again? It's not happening this time, I can tell you. I removed your radio wave emitter when you were in system restoration mode. You will _never _be able to hypnotize anyone _ever _again."

Kintoki could hardly bother with the unnecessary details. An unknown feeling was gnarling at him. A certain mental _connection _was causing an irrepressible feeling to surface in him.

"What are human emotions?" he finally churned out. "What does _protecting _someone mean?"

Gengai stopped in his tracks. Despite himself, he took off his pair of eye-goggles and stared at the golden haired automaton.

"He's actually looking earnest about it…" Gengai thought in disbelief. "I never thought that this will be possible…"

"Why do you want to know?" he asked. "It will hardly be of any help to your twisted plans."

Kintoki did not know the reason himself. Nothing was making sense to his computerized system. After the silver-haired samurai had broken off the hypnotism waves, the pre-established mental connection should have been cut off as well. _Hypothetically_, it should have been _severed. _Yet, why was it that he could still detect the mental connection between their minds? Why was it that he could detect the silver-haired samurai's rapidly decreasing mental activity? Most importantly, why was that fact so disturbing to him? What was this feeling arising in his system?

_I think you are starting to get a hold of human emotions as well," he gave a small grin. "I don't think robots actually make miscalculations, do they?"_

In that split second, the automaton realized why he had made so many miscalculations over the course of his plan. He realized why Sakata Gintoki's impending death was so disturbing to him.

Kintoki gazed seriously at the old man before him.

In that _split second_, he had realized the sheer significance of human emotions.

"Old man," he began. "For the first time and the very last time..."

_"When humans fight for the sake of __fighting_," he said. "They are no different from robots. However, when humans fight for the sake of _protecting_, their abilities far transcend mere robots. Yes, the emotions you scraps of metals despise so much are the driving force that propels _us_ forward."

"Could I ask you for a favour?"


	13. Chapter 12: Headstrong

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

Shinpachi's stomach was threatening to burst open, yet he did not seem to care. To him, a bloody mess in his mid-section was barely significant.

"Gin-san…" he gritted his teeth, hobbling through the hospital corridors with the support of his sister. "Wait for me… don't you _die _on me…"

"Shin-chan…" Otae said softly. "You don't have to force yourself… Gin-san wouldn't want you to die just for the sake of visiting him."

Shinpachi heard the words. Instead of easing his raging emotions, they accentuated his feelings instead.

"Ane-ue…" he said through his teeth. "If I'm forcing myself right now… what kind of _hell _did Gin-san go through back there?"

Otae did not provide a reply. She simply couldn't.

"Gin-san…" Shinpachi thought desperately, staring straight ahead. "Please… don't die…"

"_That stupid man was barely alive when I chanced upon him", Otae had said in the hospital room. "He was barely breathing, yet he was still advancing with the two of you on his back."_

"_Was Gin-san an adult or a chil-" Shinpachi had caught his mouth. The slip-up did not escape his sister's attention._

"_I knew it," she had said cuttingly. "No other child will look so much like that useless man. Not to mention that insult of his… I will make sure he pays…"_

_Otae sighed._

"_I won't pry into the details for now, but he was in adult form, Shin-chan," she had continued._

"_Was he injured? Why is he in the operating room? I want to see him, Ane-ue! We have no time for idle chat-"_

"_Wait, Shin-chan," Otae had said commandingly. "You just woke up from a deep sleep. You can't get up so fast."_

"_But, Ane-ue!"_

"_Listen to me, Shin-chan. Gin-san did not struggle so hard just to see you explode into bloody pieces of flesh. He did not carry the two of you just for that, you hear me?"_

"_Ane-ue…"_

"_When he saw me on the streets, he actually gave a small smile," Otae had hesitated. "The very next second, he was on the ground, motionless."_

_"Motionless? How did we get to the hospital if Gin-san was incapacitated?"_

"_I forc- asked a few gentlemen to carry the three of you to the hospital," she continued. "I was worried sick. Could you imagine the number of Bargain Dash I had to forego when I was waiting for you?"_

"_That's hardly the point, Ane-ue…"_

"_When the doctor finally came out of the emergency room, he said that you and Kagura-chan were fine. I breathed a sigh of relief."_

_Otae had tensed again._

"_However, the man I was least worried about turned out to be in the worst situation. Did you know what the doctor told me, Shin-chan?"_

_Shinpachi stared at her, uncomprehending._

"_He told me that Gin-san's heart should have stopped a long time ago," she said hesitantly._

"_How could it be?" Shinpachi had exclaimed in shock. "When I saw him in the Karakuri Dou, he was still fine! Injured, but fine!"_

_Otae paused._

"_His heart was still pumping, Shin-chan," she had said. "His heart continued to pump through sheer willpower and endurance. According to the doctor, his heart should have stopped when a huge forced rammed it from behind."_

"_Which means…" Shinpachi said disbelievingly. "Gin-san saved us in the Karakuri Dou when his heart wasn't even functioning properly? He carried the both of us till he saw you, all through sheer willpower...?"_

_He looked down at his mid-section. Without hesitation, he gritted his teeth and climbed off the side of the bed._

"_Shin-chan!" Otae had burst in surprise and concern. "What are yo-"_

"_I'm not resting here while Gin-san suffers by himself, Ane-ue," he had said determinedly. "I will reach him even if it costs me my life."_

_His sister had gazed at him with a distant air, before walking to his side slowly._

"_I should withdraw you from the care of that useless man…" she had sighed, supporting a bewildered Shinpachi with her shoulder. "You are turning out just to be like him…"_

After a long while, they finally slowed to a stop.

"Gin-san's here?" Shinpachi inquired hesitantly.

Otae gave a brief nod, before supporting him to a nearby seat.

"We can only wait, Shin-chan…" Otae said, a slight tremor in her voice. "We can only hope that the useless man will pull through with his stupidity."

The Shimura siblings gazed at the operating room in a sombre manner, both unwilling to look away from it.

* * *

"I can't believe that I just let that automaton go…" Gengai muttered, shaking his head. "What was I thinking?"

"_Do me a favour, old man," the golden-haired automaton had said. "Release me for a few hours. I will be back."_

"How could I believe the words of a raving lunatic?" Gengai ranted. "What possessed me to do so?"

He halted in his tracks, struck by a sudden revelation.

"Hang on; I did not exactly break out of his hypnotism, did I? Don't tell me…"

The old inventor slapped his forehead, gasping aloud.

"He was using me all along! He simply needed me to reconstruct his body before he can go after that samurai again!"

He dashed to the robotic telephone on a table.

"I have got to call the brats," he muttered. "I have got to warn them-"

Gengai paused in his motion.

"Why did he have to plead with me? I don't remember programming him with such a function..."

He turned around. A radio wave transmitter was lying atop a whole stack of junk.

* * *

Footsteps approached down the corridor, causing Shinpachi to divert his attention for the first time in an hour. His face turned pale.

"You!" he exclaimed, instinctively reaching for a non-existent _katana _at his side. "What are _you _doing here?"

"What is with the hostile attitude, Shinpachi-kun?" a smooth voice rang out. "It's so cold of you."

A golden-haired automaton stepped into sight, a smirk on his face.

"I arrived to _fix _that silver-haired samurai of yours, of course."


	14. Chapter 13: Distinct Rivalry

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

Otae looked up.

"You were the replacement for Gin-san…" she said softly. "Why are you he-"

"He was the one who injured us, Ane-ue!" Shinpachi shouted. "He was the one!"

Otae's look of surprise slowly faded. Her face began to darken.

"You should have mentioned that from the very start, Shin-chan," she trembled with anger. "I am more than _interested _in the person who forced me to spend so much money on hospital fees."

"My, my…" Kintoki said, advancing nonchalantly. "Aren't you a feisty one, Tae-chan?"

"Call me Otae-san, you useless samurai!" the fiery woman charged at him, fist drawn back.

The golden-haired automaton unsheathed his wooden sword, smirking impeccably.

"Right, _Tae-chan,_" he taunted, meeting her punch with aplomb.

"You _piss _me off," Otae roared, barraging him with consecutive punches.

Kintoki parried an upper blow, leaned under her sequential punch and drove the back of his sword into her chest.

"Urg," she coughed as she went reeling onto the floor.

"My, I'm sorry," the golden-haired automaton said apologetically. "I thought you will have ample assets to parry my blow, but I forgot that you are _flat-chested._"

"What… did… you… just… say?" Otae said softly, a vein popping at her forehead.

"Ane-ue!" Shinpachi yelled warily. "Be careful! Even if he's not Gin-san, he's still on the same level as him!"

"Doesn't matter to me, Shin-chan," his sister smiled at him. "Both of them are going to die, after all."

She charged at the automaton, feinting with a low punch before nailing him in the shoulder with a quick jab.

The automaton was knocked off his guard. Otae stepped forward and sent him crashing to the floor with a low kick.

"Any last words?" Otae smiled, sitting hard on his stomach. "I don't mind saving my fists for a few more seconds."

Kintoki gave a mock grimace.

"Even if I've got any last words," he said. "They are _certainly _not to you."

"That's unfortunate," Otae bared her teeth. "I hope that you can say them in your next life."

She raised a fist.

"Sorry, but I'm in a bit of a hurry," the automaton grinned. "I will have to say them in _this _life, I guess."

With that, he took a sweep at her with his wooden sword, propelling her to the floor.

"Later," Kintoki winked at an enraged Otae before dashing forward. A weak figure was conspicuously in his path.

"Clear the way," the automaton said softly. "You are in no condition to stop me."

Shinpachi gave a weak grin, arms spread apart. There was no other way to get to the operating room, except through him.

Kintoki's expression was impassive.

"Your loss, then," he shrugged, before dashing straight at Shinpachi.

The bespectacled samurai stared ahead resolutely, ready for his impending death.

_Sorry, Gin-san. I hope I can still meet you in the afterlife…_

Kintoki was right in his face. The very next second, he was past his guard.

"Rest that messed-up stomach of yours," the automaton called over his shoulder. "Or you might _really_ not get a girlfriend in the future!"

He pushed open the sturdy metal door to the operating room. Surprised gazes greeted him.

"What are you doing here?" a small man with a gruff voice questioned. "We are in the middle of an important-"

Kintoki whipped his sword at him. Next second, the man had sprawled to the floor, unconscious.

"Get out if you don't want to end up like him," he threatened. "And fast."

The surgeons fled the room faster than a scurry of squirrels after a single nut.

"Sakata Gintoki…" the automaton gazed at the still figure on the operating table. He drew his sword.

Otae appeared at the door, eyes widening.

"No!" she screamed, reaching for him. "Don't-"

The wooden sword plunged right into the chest of the silver-haired samurai.

"That's my job done, huh?" Kintoki mused, dropping his wooden sword to the floor. "After a torrid period, that is."

He began to stumble towards the door, his shoulder pointing at a crooked angle. The automaton did not hear the disbelieving muttering of a certain female, or the anguished scream of a bespectacled samurai. All he heard was the salvation of his own system. The feeling that had plagued him was conspicuously gone.

"I will _never _forgive you," a growl emerged. A fist went right through his back, surfacing from the front.

"I didn't expect you to, anyway," Kintoki sighed.

"I will make sure that you _never _tread in Edo ever _again_," Otae hissed, fist drawn back. The automaton closed his eyes, aware that not even a robot could survive a devastating blow in the head.

"Wait, Ane-ue!" a voice choked. "Gin-san… Gin-san is stirring!"

"What?" Otae exclaimed, pushing the resigned robot onto the floor. She rushed to the operating table and gazed concernedly at the figure on it.

"Gin-san! Can you hear us?" Shinpachi inquired urgently. "Gin-san-"

"I can hear you, Patsuan," a weak voice sounded. "I'm not deaf, after all."

"But how…" Shinpachi muttered disbelievingly. "Kintoki rammed his sword into your chest! There was no way you could survive tha-"

"That's only if the sword had been directed with _real _intent."

They turned around to see an old man with a pair of eye-goggles.

"Gengai-san!" Shinpachi exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

The old inventor stepped into the operating room and took a close look at the silver-haired samurai.

"A force with the same exact intensity as the last blow you dealt him, huh?" Gengai murmured. "Perfect precision, as to be expected from the useless samurai's replacement…"

"Gengai-san! What do you mean? Do you know why Gin-san is still alive?" Shinpachi shot urgently.

"Chill, kiddo," Gengai sighed. He sat down at the edge of the operating table.

"That's my foot you are sitting on, old man." Gintoki blustered feebly.

The old inventor gave a laugh.

"Provide some punch lines only when you can talk normally, useless samurai," he chortled. "Otherwise, it just doesn't sound the same."

He turned to a bemused Shinpachi.

"You asked why I am here," Gengai said. "I am here because of this damn automaton."

He gestured to a crumpled Kintoki, who was lying on the ground with his back to the wall.

"Him? Why?" Shinpachi questioned. "Why are you here because of h- Gengai-san!"

The old inventor was inclining his head to them in an apologetic fashion.

"It was my fault that he even got out at the very start," he said, head still tilted. "It was my fault that I allowed him to hypnotize me. If it wasn't for me, you guys will never have been injured so badly. Please forgive me."

"It's not your fault, Gengai-san!" Shinpachi exclaimed. "It's because of Kintoki! There's no need to apologise for him!"

Gengai slowly reverted to his original position.

"Since he was my creation, his faults will automatically be mine," he said.

"Gengai-san…"

The old inventor gave a sigh.

"When you guys defeated him the first time, I had brought him back to my shop," he began. "I had instantly proceeded to reprogram him. However, I didn't know that he had back up software in his system, designed to repel my own reprogramming files. As a result, I was hypnotized by him. That was my first fault."

Gengai glanced briefly at the automaton.

"I was manipulated into creating robot versions of you and Kagura," he continued. "That was my second fault."

"You were being controlled, Gengai-san!" Shinpachi said earnestly. "You had no choice in that matter!"

"I still created them with my _own _hands, Shinpachi," the old inventor said. "That was the fault of an incompetent engineer."

He paused for a moment.

"When the natural perm had decapitated this damn robot, I had reconstructed his body, believing that I was actually under my own control by then," he lamented. "It was only when he had escaped yet _again _that I realized that I was wrong. That was my third fault."

Gengai looked at them.

"You could claim that those three faults were because of the automaton," he said. "But the consecutive ones are entirely of my _own._"

"What do you mean, Gengai-san?" Shinpachi questioned curiously.

"I mistook Kintoki's intentions," the old inventor began. "That was my fourth fault."

"What do-"

"Please let me finish, Shinpachi," Gengai sighed.

Shinpachi caught himself, nodding his head briefly.

"I almost allowed him to get destroyed here. That was my fifth fault," Gengai said.

The automaton jerked on the floor.

"Don't spill so much nonsense, old man," Kintoki said. "You're still under my control."

"If I was still under your control," Gengai said gruffly. "I won't even be here."

The old inventor turned to Shinpachi.

"That force thing I was hollering about earlier on?" he said. "This robot did not aim to kill Gintoki with that strike. "

"What do you mean?" Otae demanded. "I saw him land that blow with inten-"

Gengai nodded his head.

"Yes, he did strike with _intent,_" he said. "But it was not a _killing _intent."

"Are you still under his control?" Otae said threateningly. "I will destroy him right now-"

"No, I am perfectly sane at the moment," Gengai protested. "Besides, he does not have the ability to hypnotize anybody, not anymore."

He looked at the automaton.

"You took it off yourself, didn't you?" he asked.

"I don't know what you are talking about, old man," Kintoki said. "Just zip that large mouth of yours and reprogram me. We don't have to waste time here."

Shinpachi was staring confusedly at the old inventor.

"What do you mean, take it off yourself?" he inquired. "Why will he remove his strongest weapon?"

"It will seem that he does not wish to forcibly control anymore," Gengai replied. "The emergence of human emotions has curbed that notion of his."

"Human emotions?" Shinpachi repeated uncertainly. "Could robots be capable of such-"

"You are forgetting Tama, Shinpachi," Gengai pointed out. "Under the right situations, even robots could generate emotion-like reactions."

He averted his gaze to the silver-haired samurai.

"Which comes to the point I had been trying to make," the old inventor said. "He had come here with the intention of _helping _Gintoki."

"What?" Shinpachi exclaimed. "But that can't be! He wants to usurp Gin-san's role in the story! Why will he want to help-"

"Human emotions, Shinpachi," Gengai said. "Since he was based off Gintoki in the first place, human emotions have compelled him to see Gintoki not as an _enemy, _but a _comrade_."

"What the **** are you talking about, old man?" Otae blustered. "You are being controlled, aren't you? Why are you spouting such nonsensical stuff in front of me?"

"I assure you that I'm not being controlled," Gengai winced. "Even if half of my own mind refuses to accept what I'm saying, I assure you that I'm speaking of my own free will."

"That doesn't sound convincing at all… Gengai-san…" Shinpachi said tentatively. "If he wanted to help Gin-san, why did he seek a fight with us? How does slamming a sword into Gin-san's chest help him?"

Gengai pondered for a moment.

"I do believe that he felt guilt at what he had done to all of you," he said. "Thus, he wished to continue his antagonist identity right to the end. His primary intention was to save Gintoki, after all. The minor details hardly matter to robots."

He paused for a moment.

"Kintoki did not just slam a sword into Gintoki's chest," he continued. "He had exerted a blow that nearly stopped his heart before. In order to get it pumping again, he will have to exert another force that's of the exact same potency from the other side. In this case, it will be the front. As a result, neutralization will take place and the former blow will have been cancelled out..."

The occupants of the room were staring at him dazedly.

"What matters is the fact that Gintoki is alive," Gengai huffed irritably. "That proves my point."

"How did you know we were here?" Otae asked. "I don't remember telling anybody that the useless samurai was dying here."

The old inventor gestured to the automaton.

"I tracked down the location with the device in his system," he explained. "I had it implanted in him right from day one.

Shinpachi hesitated.

"Did Kin-san really help Gin-san?" he asked tentatively. "I find it really hard to belie-"

"Patsuan," the silver-haired samurai said. "He might be one _hell _of a twisted version of me, but he really did save my ass this time."

"Gin-san..." Shinpachi murmured.

"Make no mistake about this, natural perm," Kintoki commented. "I did not do it to help you. I just wanted to take that protagonist role from you in a _proper_ manner, that's all."

Gintoki cracked into a small smile.

"You can try when you get a proper hold of your emotions, scrap of metal. Even then, I will still win. Make no doubt about it."

Kintoki gave a smirk. It wasn't a twisted and malicious one. It was genuine and silly, something his old self will never have been able to make.

"We will see, natural perm. We will see."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Cheers! **


	15. Epilogue

**Genre: Humour/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Time Reversal Arc**

* * *

"So you're finally back from your business trip, huh?" Otose inquired, taking a puff from her cigarette. "I hope that you will be able to pay the rental fees this week-"

She blinked. There was nobody in sight.

"Oi!" she shouted. "Listen to me when I'm talking!"

On the second floor, the Yorozuya Gin-chan found themselves panting breathlessly.

"Rental fees?" Gintoki spluttered. "To _hell _with that! If I don't repay the hospital fees fast, that female monster will be after my throat soon!"

"We will have to take on all kinds of jobs, Gin-chan!" Kagura nodded her head knowingly. "There's no other way, uh-huh."

"How many odd jobs do we have to work through, Kagura-chan?" Shinpachi demanded, panting heavily. "The hospital fees are through the roof!"

"We might have to sell some of our stuff, then…" Gintoki muttered.

Shinpachi gazed around his surroundings.

"What should we sell, Gin-san?" he inquired. "What will fetch a high price-"

The other two were staring at him pointedly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Shinpachi shouted. "Don't tell me-"

They nodded.

"We will have to sell _you _off, Patsuan," Gintoki said, picking his nose. "There's no other choice."

"Uh-huh," Kagura agreed, picking her own nose. "We have got to sell the deadweight, yup."

"Oi! I can't believe that you guys are saying such stuff-"

There was a knock on the door.

"It's that female monster!" Gintoki exclaimed quietly. "Hide, Kagura-chan!"

They crept into the shelter of Gintoki's room.

"Really?" Shinpachi arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

The knocks did not cease. In fact, they seemed to be increasing in volume.

"Yes, yes," Shinpachi called. "Don't knock so loud. The door is made out of cheap materials!"

He opened the door.

"Yes?" he asked. "How may I help you-"

Shinpachi's mouth went gaping open.

"Are you the Yorozuya Gin-chan? I have a favour to ask," a female voice sounded.

The bespectacled teenager gulped. Pushing his glasses firmly into place, he opened his mouth tentatively.

"May I ask for your name?" he asked throatily.

The female inclined her head slightly.

"My name is Shiriaru Hekoki, and I will like to ask for-"

The door closed with a bang.

"Sorry, we are closed for today!" a shout came from the apartment. "Please come back later- next month- next year!"

The female stared at the door uncertainly.

"Was it my name?" she wondered aloud. "Did my name scare them off? After all, it means Fierce Witch in Transylvanian…"

* * *

"Hey, old man," a golden-haired automaton called. "Where do I place this stack of junk?"

The old inventor felt a vein throbbing at his throat.

"That's _not _a stack of junk, you piece of junk!" Gengai blustered.

Sakata Kintoki snorted, his shirt grimy with dirt.

"No matter how I see it," he said plaintively. "It's all a pile of junk, old man."

"Yeah?" Gengai said, fixing some wires in a metal box. "I fixed _you _up from that pile of junk."

"Oh yeah… I forgot…" Kintoki muttered as he shifted boxes of materials to one side.

There was a periodic pause.

"How is your protagonist plan coming along?" Gengai asked nonchalantly. "Gonna kill that useless samurai anytime soon?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Kintoki replied casually. "I still can't come to grips with my emotions yet, after all."

He cracked into a grin.

"Guess I will just have to work in this junkyard for a while more," the golden-haired automaton shrugged.

The old inventor allowed himself a secret smile.

"That's fine by me. An extra pair of hands in this junkyard is always welcome."

"Oi, you just said junkyard, didn't you? You just admitted it yourself!"

"No, I didn't. I said jukebox."

"They don't even sound the same, old man!"

* * *

**A/N: Hai guys. This is the conclusion to the Time Reversal Arc. Honestly hoped you guys liked the entire story ;) Anyways, cheers and until the next time, guys!**


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